Balance begins with God
A Christian Science perspective: Self care starts with spiritual renewal.
I was exhausted. I’d worked until almost midnight, come home, slept for an hour and a half, and now I was sitting in my study at 2:30 a.m. It was Wednesday morning, and before heading back to work, I had to complete a project to be presented that evening at my church. I was also still answering work emails. This was becoming routine. I thought to myself, “Something has to give. I can’t keep up this pace much longer!”
In times of stress I have found it effective to turn to God to feel more of the tender, constant divine presence and guidance. So now, faced with this situation, I stopped thinking about how I was going to get everything done, and started expressing gratitude for God’s goodness. This sentence from “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, came to thought: “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need” (p. 494).
This helped me see that God, infinite Love itself, is always providing us with ideas that inspire the solutions we need, and relieved me of the intense pressure I was feeling. As divine Love’s creation – truly spiritual, not material – we’re made to be joyful, not weary. I felt God’s care and love, and an assurance all would be well. The inspiration for the presentation came in time, and the time-consuming work situation was soon harmoniously resolved. I was so grateful!
When pressures with work, family, church, friends, or school overwhelm us, how can we find time to be quiet and gain a sense of peace and balance?
Airplane passengers are instructed that if the need arises, they should secure their own oxygen mask before assisting others. They’re then in a better position to do what’s needed. Likewise, we need to be receptive to the healing thoughts God sends us each moment, assuring us that the only true reality is God’s reality, in order to be prepared to help others.
Christ Jesus was followed by thousands hungry for his healing message. But he consistently made time to pray and commune with his heavenly Father. It must be that this closeness to God is what enabled him to express the Christ, or nature of divine Love, in all he said and did – and to heal. For instance, the Gospel of Matthew says that “when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray” (14:23). His times of prayer, followed by wonderful evidences of God’s goodness and power, proved the truth of his words: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).
God is the source of infinite good for all of creation. All of us, regardless of the demands on our time, have an inherent ability to welcome into our hearts this message of God’s care for all. It will bring a better and more permanent sense of balance and harmony in our lives.