The Right Connection

THE employment counselor shrugged his shoulders. ``I'm sorry, but there's no way we can help you," he said. ``The type of work you're looking for never makes it to an employment agency. You need to have a connection."

Disappointed and discouraged, I left the employment agency. I didn't know anyone in the profession for which I had just completed my college training. ``Is this the end of the road?" I wondered. I knew from past experience, which included numerous healings, that prayer was the best starting point. After all, I reasoned, didn't I already have the most direct ``connection" of all? Christ Jesus' life and teachings assure us that God, man's Father-Mother, is always available. A loving Father-Mother God would n't leave me, His child, at a dead end! I could humbly turn to His infinite wisdom for the right direction.

I remembered a passage in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, that confirmed my direct link with God, infinite Spirit. It reads: ``Matter cannot connect mortals with the true origin and facts of being, in which all must end. It is only by acknowledging the supremacy of Spirit, which annuls the claims of matter, that mortals can lay off mortality and find the indissoluble spiritual link which establishes man forever in the divi ne likeness, insep- arable from his creator."

This helped me see that human channels could not substitute for God's unfailing direction. By acknowledging God's ever-present love and power, I could expect to perceive the opportunities He gives. And in claiming my spiritual identity, I would necessarily have to reflect Spirit's activity. A spiritual idea, in the divine likeness, certainly could not be useless--and that meant me.

I also drew encouragement and strength from this Biblical promise found in the book of Revelation: ``I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name." By learning, loving, honoring, and living the Bible's teachings, to the best of my ability, I could expect that door to remain open. Placing my search on a spiritual basis, I could not be shut out of God's care. The open door would sur ely lead to unrestricted spiritual vistas and expanding opportunity.

I felt calmer about my job search. I quit rushing to employment agencies and frantically mailing out resumes. I spent most of my search time in quiet prayer. I listened carefully, expecting to feel a sense of spiritual inspiration guiding my next footsteps. Soon I felt led to reply to a small classified advertisement in the city's daily newspaper. The job seemed perfectly suited to my background and training. When I was interviewed, I learned that there were some two hundred applicants for the position! But the interviewer and I soon discovered that we had much in common and many similar interests. I felt as if I had truly ``come home" to family. We had never met before, but we seemed already to know each other. Evidently the employers felt the same way, for I was soon hired. The position proved to be more than a job. It was also an opportunity for spiritual growth and happy companionship, and it gave me a sense of home in a strange new city.

Through prayer we see more clearly that our inseverable connection with God is always established. We each can find our direct spiritual link to all-loving, all-knowing God. The desire to be more active in expressing our love, to be of wider service to mankind, and to grow spiritually will keep the door of opportunity open. With such motivation we will be receptive to the spiritual intuitions that will place us safely on the right track.