The long-running and immensely popular British television series Call the Midwife is based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth, a young Englishwoman who left her comfortable home to work in London’s East End as a midwife. Each episode starts out as the original book did with the question, “Why did I ever start this? I must have been mad! There were dozens of other things I could have been .… all glamorous, highly paid jobs” (Jennifer Worth, The Midwife).
I reckon that, if honest, many people would admit to having similar thoughts at some point in their careers. I know I have. I’ve even gone so far as to attend a career workshop, revamp my résumé, and send it out thinking I would find a more exciting job. But each time, my work as a Christian Science nurse has taken a new and more rewarding turn.
Mary Baker Eddy, who more than a century ago established Christian Science nursing, wrote: “Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 66). This has rung true for me whether I have nursed in a private home, at a Christian Science nursing facility, or at a summer camp; and whether I’ve cared for an adult of advanced years or attended to a young mom and infant at the birth of a baby.
