Being a visionary

The hole in the roof was gaping. But instead of merely focusing on the destruction the raging fire had caused, the store’s owner envisioned a skylight where the roof had been. He then rebuilt his store to feature that beautiful skylight, which became a valued part of my town.

To me, this illustrates the necessity for vision – the ability to look beyond immediate challenging circumstances to see positive opportunities. When we turn to God for direction, we find infinite possibilities for good.

The Bible says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). The Bible is full of examples of individuals who were able to look beyond the immediate circumstances to see the reality of God’s perfect spiritual creation.

Jesus was the master visionary. He didn’t accept limitation in any form as reality. He didn’t believe what his eyes told him about lack, sin, sickness, or death. When confronted by such disturbing circumstances, he turned to God to bring healing, knowing that omnipotent, all-loving God did not create these limitations.

Referring to how Jesus saw everyone, Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, writes in “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” “Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God’s own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick” (pp. 476-477). Through his spiritual vision, Jesus was able to feed the multitudes in the wilderness, heal the sick and sinning, and raise the dead.

Christian Science teaches that Jesus is the Way-shower, that is, he shows us how to be spiritual visionaries too. We each have the innate capacity to hear God’s loving direction. As God’s children we’re spiritual, so we have an innate spiritual sense – our “conscious, constant capacity to understand God” (Science and Health, p. 209). Just as a musician trains his or her ear to perceive and express melodious and harmonious tones, we can each cultivate our spiritual sense to hear God’s loving direction.

There appear to be two sources of thought in our consciousness – what Christian Science describes as mortal mind and divine Mind, God. We develop our spiritual sense by learning to differentiate between the misguided and inaccurate input of mortal mind and the inspiration of the divine Mind.

Mortal mind always suggests limited and bad results. On the other hand, divine Mind leads us forward with gentle strength to an awareness of harmony that does not accept mortal mind or its prognostications as reality. Looking to Mind for guidance shows us how to move out of the mistaken mortal perception of reality.

If we accept the beliefs of mortal mind, we feel fear, hopelessness, or anger when confronted by problems. If we turn to our perfect, loving Father-Mother God, we find comfort and peace and can trust God to lead us out of the mental miasma caused by accepting mortal mind’s concepts as reality.

God’s guidance is with us at every moment, and in every aspect of our lives, including our careers. As we learn to listen for the loving “still, small voice” of God, we discern His plan of progress unfolding for us, including vistas we might not have even imagined.

For example, a number of years ago, while I was pursuing a master’s degree, I heard the loving instruction, “Do well here. You are going to get a PhD.” I had never considered the idea of getting a PhD, but I listened because I recognized this as God’s voice. It wasn’t that God knew about my graduate education, but this is how His message of goodness spoke specifically to me at that moment.

To me, the PhD seemed such a tremendously hard task to take on – I imagined it would be something like Nehemiah’s endeavor to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem. But I did do well in my master’s course and eventually went on to complete my PhD, because I trusted God’s guidance. I knew that God would be with me every step of the way.

There were definitely challenges, but each one was met and overcome as I let go of a mortal perspective, to see situations from God’s omnipotent, omniscient viewpoint.

The confidence I gained in following God’s direction has helped me immensely in my career. I have learned to listen intently for God’s sparkling, sweet loving voice that dispels limiting suggestions. God loves each of us so much. And His love is helping each of us to become visionaries capable of seeing beyond the limited mortal view to the amazing opportunities He has for everyone as we turn to Him for guidance.