Always in Our Comfort Zone
http://journal.christianscience.com/issues/2013/9/131-09/always-in-our-comfort-zone
Sometimes it may seem that we are forced (or led) into situations that may cause us to feel out of our element or comfort zone. This can often be good, as we have an opportunity to embrace new things and are challenged to grow. Other times it can seem frightening and cause us to feel uncertain about ourselves and doubt if we are up to the task. But can we really ever be separated from God or lack anything? No, not for an instant, because either God is all-presence and all-power, or He is not.
Once we come face to face with this realization, the butterflies, fear, or nervous sweat stops, and we are brought into alignment with Mind, which informs us of what we need to know in a current situation; with Principle, which guides us and keeps us safe; with Soul, which enlightens us with the perfect qualities and ideas we need to express in this new situation; with Truth, which informs us with right thinking and acting; with Life, which invigorates and energizes us; with Spirit, which gives us strength; and with Love, which provides comfort and compassion to handle any situation we face. These seven synonyms, or names, for God help define God for us in those tough moments and bring a calmness to the situation.
When I was a college sophomore, I decided to transfer because of my major, from a smaller nurturing college in Illinois, which I loved, to a larger more diverse university in Virginia. I had been there only a few weeks when a growth appeared on my neck. I had just had Christian Science class instruction the summer before, and I prayed as I had been taught to do. The growth became noticeable and alarming to my roommates despite my best efforts to conceal it. My parents came to visit me and thought it was best to bring me home. My father suggested that perhaps we should see a doctor at the university that I was attending, which was well known for its medical facilities. After we’d seen numerous specialists, no conclusions were reached, although surgery was suggested as an option.
We thanked them, went home, and engaged a Christian Science practitioner. She visited me several times. This time at home provided a quiet oasis in which to pray. Some of the thoughts that came to me suggested that I had made a mistake in transferring to this university. I was required to take a health class, and the one in which I was enrolled was very medically oriented in describing diseases. I felt so out of my comfort zone that I wrote out Christian Science treatments and prayers during class to fill my thought with spiritual ideas instead of these maladies.
I knew that as long as God was a palpable presence in my life every moment, it didn’t matter what I was doing or where I was working.
Although the university to which I’d transferred was highly thought of, it also had a reputation as a party school, and weekends were sometimes wild. In fact, there were often bottles and cups sprinkled across the lawn of the church I attended-evidence of parties the night before. Once again, the suggestion of being out of my element reared its head and said I’d made a mistake in leaving my former college.
One night when I could no longer take the pressure from the growth on my neck, I read a sentence in Mary Baker Eddy’s Unity of Good, which changed the way I was thinking in a split second. It reads, “The true man, really saved, is ready to testify of God in the infinite penetration of Truth, and can affirm that the Mind which is good, or God, has no knowledge of sin” ( p. 2). It was the sureness of this statement that made me feel the closeness of Truth and my at-one-ment with Jesus’ declaration, “I and my Father are one” ( John 10:30). And I knew that not only was this true for me, but for all the students on that campus.
That night, the growth drained. What I felt was an indescribable, crystal purity, and a sureness of my inseparability from God. I went back to school, was able to drop the health class, and happily finished my degree a year later.
Fast forward many years. After raising three children and enjoying a successful career in education, I found myself transplanted into a new career that seemed totally out of my element. I left a position at a university and joined the Executive Staff in Counterterrorism Division with a government agency in Washington, DC, soon after 9/11. Although I felt I could offer something in this position, I was in a state of shell shock from the events of 9/11 the first weeks and months in the new job.
Sure of God’s perfect plan for me, around the same time I accepted election as First Reader in my church. It was evident to me that I needed the reading in church to help me with this job. I felt so out of my comfort zone that I literally ran to my Bible and the writings of Mrs. Eddy each morning before I left for work, and often spent my lunch hour in a nearby Christian Science Reading Room. Needless to say, I had many topics to choose from for Wednesday night readings!
Through the help of a church member, I met a colleague who worked at the same place as I. Her words rang like an angel message that woke me to what I needed to see. She said, “You have an opportunity to make a difference in this organization at a time when they really need someone like you.” Her message made me turn directly to God because I knew there was nothing I could do personally for this agency. It was only God who would lead me to do the right thing.
As it turned out, I was able to use my education background to initiate new ideas and develop a range of learning opportunities for this agency. I grew to appreciate and love the people I was working with. I no longer felt separated from God because I knew that I was united with my Father-Mother God every moment of every day. I knew that as long as God was a palpable presence in my life every moment, it didn’t matter what I was doing or where I was working-I was witnessing God doing the work. What a joy this was! Instead of feeling doubtful and out of my element in a new situation, I felt comforted and assured that I could never be separated from Mind, Principle, Soul, Life, Truth, or Love.
And now, when feelings come suggesting that once again I might be out of my comfort zone, they trigger in me the next thought-there is no situation out of God’s control, and, therefore, I cannot be out of control, either. I love the statement from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures where Mrs. Eddy says, “You command the situation if you understand that mortal existence is a state of self-deception and not the truth of being” ( p. 403).
We are assured that our tender loving Father has already been there before us and is leading us each step of the way, because it is God who guides every event of our careers and brings us into our comfort zone.
http://journal.christianscience.com/issues/2013/9/131-09/always-in-our-comfort-zone
Sometimes it may seem that we are forced (or led) into situations that may cause us to feel out of our element or comfort zone. This can often be good, as we have an opportunity to embrace new things and are challenged to grow. Other times it can seem frightening and cause us to feel uncertain about ourselves and doubt if we are up to the task. But can we really ever be separated from God or lack anything? No, not for an instant, because either God is all-presence and all-power, or He is not.
Once we come face to face with this realization, the butterflies, fear, or nervous sweat stops, and we are brought into alignment with Mind, which informs us of what we need to know in a current situation; with Principle, which guides us and keeps us safe; with Soul, which enlightens us with the perfect qualities and ideas we need to express in this new situation; with Truth, which informs us with right thinking and acting; with Life, which invigorates and energizes us; with Spirit, which gives us strength; and with Love, which provides comfort and compassion to handle any situation we face. These seven synonyms, or names, for God help define God for us in those tough moments and bring a calmness to the situation.
When I was a college sophomore, I decided to transfer because of my major, from a smaller nurturing college in Illinois, which I loved, to a larger more diverse university in Virginia. I had been there only a few weeks when a growth appeared on my neck. I had just had Christian Science class instruction the summer before, and I prayed as I had been taught to do. The growth became noticeable and alarming to my roommates despite my best efforts to conceal it. My parents came to visit me and thought it was best to bring me home. My father suggested that perhaps we should see a doctor at the university that I was attending, which was well known for its medical facilities. After we’d seen numerous specialists, no conclusions were reached, although surgery was suggested as an option.
We thanked them, went home, and engaged a Christian Science practitioner. She visited me several times. This time at home provided a quiet oasis in which to pray. Some of the thoughts that came to me suggested that I had made a mistake in transferring to this university. I was required to take a health class, and the one in which I was enrolled was very medically oriented in describing diseases. I felt so out of my comfort zone that I wrote out Christian Science treatments and prayers during class to fill my thought with spiritual ideas instead of these maladies.
I knew that as long as God was a palpable presence in my life every moment, it didn’t matter what I was doing or where I was working.
Although the university to which I’d transferred was highly thought of, it also had a reputation as a party school, and weekends were sometimes wild. In fact, there were often bottles and cups sprinkled across the lawn of the church I attended-evidence of parties the night before. Once again, the suggestion of being out of my element reared its head and said I’d made a mistake in leaving my former college.
One night when I could no longer take the pressure from the growth on my neck, I read a sentence in Mary Baker Eddy’s Unity of Good, which changed the way I was thinking in a split second. It reads, “The true man, really saved, is ready to testify of God in the infinite penetration of Truth, and can affirm that the Mind which is good, or God, has no knowledge of sin” ( p. 2). It was the sureness of this statement that made me feel the closeness of Truth and my at-one-ment with Jesus’ declaration, “I and my Father are one” ( John 10:30). And I knew that not only was this true for me, but for all the students on that campus.
That night, the growth drained. What I felt was an indescribable, crystal purity, and a sureness of my inseparability from God. I went back to school, was able to drop the health class, and happily finished my degree a year later.
Fast forward many years. After raising three children and enjoying a successful career in education, I found myself transplanted into a new career that seemed totally out of my element. I left a position at a university and joined the Executive Staff in Counterterrorism Division with a government agency in Washington, DC, soon after 9/11. Although I felt I could offer something in this position, I was in a state of shell shock from the events of 9/11 the first weeks and months in the new job.
Sure of God’s perfect plan for me, around the same time I accepted election as First Reader in my church. It was evident to me that I needed the reading in church to help me with this job. I felt so out of my comfort zone that I literally ran to my Bible and the writings of Mrs. Eddy each morning before I left for work, and often spent my lunch hour in a nearby Christian Science Reading Room. Needless to say, I had many topics to choose from for Wednesday night readings!
Through the help of a church member, I met a colleague who worked at the same place as I. Her words rang like an angel message that woke me to what I needed to see. She said, “You have an opportunity to make a difference in this organization at a time when they really need someone like you.” Her message made me turn directly to God because I knew there was nothing I could do personally for this agency. It was only God who would lead me to do the right thing.
As it turned out, I was able to use my education background to initiate new ideas and develop a range of learning opportunities for this agency. I grew to appreciate and love the people I was working with. I no longer felt separated from God because I knew that I was united with my Father-Mother God every moment of every day. I knew that as long as God was a palpable presence in my life every moment, it didn’t matter what I was doing or where I was working-I was witnessing God doing the work. What a joy this was! Instead of feeling doubtful and out of my element in a new situation, I felt comforted and assured that I could never be separated from Mind, Principle, Soul, Life, Truth, or Love.
And now, when feelings come suggesting that once again I might be out of my comfort zone, they trigger in me the next thought-there is no situation out of God’s control, and, therefore, I cannot be out of control, either. I love the statement from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures where Mrs. Eddy says, “You command the situation if you understand that mortal existence is a state of self-deception and not the truth of being” ( p. 403).
We are assured that our tender loving Father has already been there before us and is leading us each step of the way, because it is God who guides every event of our careers and brings us into our comfort zone.
http://journal.christianscience.com/issues/2013/9/131-09/always-in-our-comfort-zone