Cartoons sometimes picture people behind a desk with mounds of paperwork engulfing them. I know just how that feels. As I struggled to keep up with three part-time teaching jobs last semester, one of which took an inordinate amount of time and energy, I realized I needed to wake up from believing I was bound in matter. Rather than accept the thought that I, or anyone, could be trapped in limitation or lack, I prayed to see myself in the light of what Jesus demonstrated—that man is the beloved child of God, supplied with all good.
Small positive steps began to fall into place. I peacefully resigned from the best paying but most demanding job of the three, even though humanly that did not seem practical. What helped me overcome the fear of this step was putting it into perspective in Christian Science by acknowledging God, good, as All. This idea is more than mere optimism; it rests on biblical truth. Genesis 1:31 says, “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” Jesus told his followers, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven, is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). By this standard, all men and women are unfettered and unlimited, functioning according to God’s law of perfection. Inextricably one with God, we can never lose good.
As I held to these truths, the weight of foreboding was lifted. I endeavored to stop contemplating the reduction in my pay and stop talking about what was wrong in previous jobs or the economy. After a couple of months, without any communication on my part, a university where I had previously worked but lost my job in a budget cut, e-mailed me with an offer of part-time employment. I was delighted to hear from this former employer and accepted the job, which was much less pressured than the one I’d left.
