Need retraining?

IT happens frequently. A factory or steel mill closes. Jobs are lost; workers need retraining. The high-tech companies that often replace smokestack industries require totally new skills. A worker willing to be retrained needs lots of courage, humility, and childlike trust. Yet these qualities are natural to cultivate because they derive from God, and each of us, in truth, is the offspring of God. Christian Science, discovered and founded by Mary Baker Eddy, teaches, in accord with the Bible, that man reflects the divine nature. All of us, therefore, include the qualities necessary for our progress. Let's think first about courage. Anyone willing to tackle a new career needs to be courageous, free of limiting, inhibiting fear. The Bible declares, ``Perfect love casteth out fear.'' 1 God, divine Love, is perfect Love. We come to know our Father-Mother Love through faithful, consecrated prayer. In prayer, or silent communion, with God we begin to feel our unity with divine Love. We begin to know the ever-presence of God's ten-der, yet mighty embrace. This spiritual awakening to Love's care dispels fear and gives us the courage to go forward. What about humility? Maybe we've become adept at our old job, advancing through the ranks and gaining seniority. Suddenly we have to start all over from the beginning. We're students again, perhaps feeling awkward and ignorant. Realizing, in prayer, the presence of Almighty God, all-knowing Mind, we can gain a measure of meekness. In our relationship to God we are, in fact, children. But we are also heirs--sons and daughters of the King. Claiming our birthright includes exercising such God-derived qualities as flexibility and teachableness, intelligence and comprehension. It includes humbly yielding to the supremacy of divine Mind and accepting our own Godlikeness. Our willingness to see God as creator and ourselves as His creation can awaken in us abilities we never knew we had. Mrs. Eddy states succinctly, ``Meekness heightens immortal attributes only by removing the dust that dims them.'' 2 Then there's the element of childlike trust. Depending on God isn't the same as leaning on a friend or relative. Trusting Him with our new careers means trusting in the beneficence of infinite Love and the wisdom of ever-present Mind. Our divine Father-Mother knows us, knows our individual nature--better than anyone. When we turn to God for guidance and trust the direction that comes to us, we have a feeling of complete assurance. We know we're being led in the right direction. All-knowing Mind never errs, never fails. We can trust its perfect guidance. Consider for a moment the career of the master Christian, Christ Jesus. For much of his life, we may assume, he worked as a carpenter. But then for three years he did work that had nothing to do with wood and adz. He preached the Word of God. He healed the sick and raised the dead. We read in the Bible that as the Master began his work of preaching, teaching, and healing, he received God's blessing. When he was baptized by John, Jesus heard an angel message declaring, ``This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'' 3 Of course, Jesus had a unique role to play in the history of the world: he alone was the Messiah. But all of us are, in fact, sons and daughters of God, precious in the Father's sight. We all can hear and accept our own benediction of our Father-Mother God as we venture forth to new work. Our endeavors--insofar as they express integrity and righteousness--are blessed of God. He seals us with His love and empowers our honest labor with success. 1 I John 4:18. 2 Miscellaneous Writings, p. 1. 3 Matthew 3:17.