Unburdened
From many quarters we hear of burdened lives - from homemakers, corporate executives, teachers, factory workers. We hear of deadlines, long hours, endless responsibilities. What will ease this heavy load? How can our work be more joyful?
We find a clue in the Bible. Christ Jesus told his followers: ''Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.'' n1
nl Matthew 11:28, 29.
Jesus isn't with us personally today, but we can draw near to the spirit of the Christ. We can live in a more Christlike way.
The master Christian lived in constant communion with God. He was conscious of his sonship as the child of Spirit, of Love. In utter meekness Jesus attributed his power and grace to the Father of all. There was no pride, egotism , or pressured fear in his thought. He simply lived in response to the one divine Spirit and thus felt the peace of being God's own witness.
Moses, living generations before Jesus, also found the rest that comes with putting on the yoke of the timeless Christ. After leading the children of Israel out of bondage, he was faced with being the only judge or arbitrator for thousands of people. The job apparently required every hour of Moses' time - ''from the morning unto the evening,'' n2 the Scriptures say.
n2 Exodus 18:13.
It took a visiting family member to point out that the work was too much for one man to handle. Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, encouraged him to delegate some of the work. ''Thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens,'' n 3 advised Jethro.
n3 Exodus 18:21.
Moses mayhave needed to see that the wisdom of God could be reflected by many individuals. This may be our need, too. Have we discovered the spirit of Christ in our co-workers? Are we meek enough to discern the God-bestowed abilities of others? Is our faith in God's government strong enough to entrust certain tasks to others without a backward glance?
The meekness that sees our own talent and ability stemming from God, recognizes that all individuals have this same divine source. The intelligence, wisdom, and efficiency we're able to express are available to all. Knowing this frees us to entrust important work to others.
But what if we have faithfully, humbly delegated to others the tasks that rightly belong to them and still feel burdened? We can strive, then, to get a more spiritual sense of ourselves and our work. That is, we can let more of Christ, Truth, be expressed where we are.
Christian Science, in accord with the Scriptures, defines man as completely and purely spiritual. Though we appear to be physical mortals, our actual selfhood is incorporeal because our creator, God, is Spirit. In truth we each express His nature; we reflect such qualities as intelligence, integrity, creativity. This activity can't be hindered by time restrictions or personal limitations.
Recently I was able to prove these truths. My work includes a bit of creative writing. As a rule, I've found that various writing projects require at least a week's worth of research, writing, rewriting, and editing. But there was one time not long ago when all this was accomplished successfully in just one day.
How? I started the work with an extra measure of prayer. The prayer was essentially a yielding to the allness, the omniscience, of God, divine Mind. It was a recognition of my complete dependence on the one Mind. I felt a humility not known to me before. There was a fearlessness that allowed the writing to flow unhindered.
This extra measure of prayer can make all of us more productive, no matter what our work. We'll find that each legitimate task is completed more efficiently, more joyously, as we draw closer to God.
As Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes, ''To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings.'' n 4
n4 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. vii. DAILY BIBLE VERSE Humble yourselves . . . under the mighty hand of God . . . : casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. I Peter 5:6, 7
