After 25 years of dedicated employment, I, along with roughly three fourths of my associates, was informed that we were being released from our professional positions at the institute at which we worked. Prior to our release, there had been an accelerating amount of political turmoil both within and without our place of work, and I had become increasingly dissatisfied with deteriorating conditions that were stifling my ability to implement more creative and effective techniques to uphold a high standard in my work. Nevertheless, the announcement of our dismissals both surprised and disappointed me, as I could not see a better employment alternative at the time.
Shortly after the announcement of our release, I contacted a Christian Science practitioner to pray for me about my seemingly uncertain and unstable future.
I contacted a Christian Science practitioner to pray for me about my seemingly uncertain and unstable future.
The practitioner immediately affirmed that we knew my right place was determined by God, and not a person. He also reminded me that God is the only cause, that God causes only good, and that I therefore must be in the right place, at the right time, doing the right work with the right reward. He additionally asserted that there could be no separation from good, because I could not be separated from God. I was grateful for the practitioner’s confidence in God’s law of Love governing my experience.
In conjunction with the practitioner’s prayers and words, I found comfort from Christ Jesus’ great promise to his disciples in the book of John, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (14:2).
With these ideas and the practitioner’s ongoing prayerful support, I began to take steps to find a new job before my employment was terminated. However, following many weeks of submitting numerous résumés, I had received only one invitation to interview. After one notably abundant day of rejections, I became significantly discouraged and called a close relative of mine who is also a dedicated Christian Scientist. She told me it was time for me to stop and humbly ask God for guidance. She added that God would indeed place me where I was best suited, and that divine Love always wants progress for God’s children, but that this placement would not necessarily be one without challenges. I felt a much greater sense of peace after accepting her advice and decided I would cease to take any additional action unless I was absolutely sure I was being guided by God.
Within days I was interviewed and offered a position, which I gratefully accepted.
The very next morning, a casual conversation with a coworker led me to contact a former colleague who had become the chief administrator at a nationally recognized institute located not far from my home. I informed my former colleague of my current employment situation and within days I was interviewed and offered a position at the institute, which I gratefully accepted. As my relative had accurately stated, the work in my new employment presented great challenges, but my expanded ability to engage in fulfilling endeavors, as well as the academic and personal growth I gained during the years I worked there, were beyond anything I could have imagined.
On page 233 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy states, “Every day makes its demands upon us for higher proofs rather than professions of Christian power. . . . progress is the law of God, whose law demands of us only what we can certainly fulfil.” Because everyone is the reflection of God, infinite Life, we can be assured that we can never be diminished, inhibited, or hidden.
