by Catherine Hellman
Have you ever been praying about a challenging experience and wished that the healing would just come? I’ve learned from my study of Christian Science that since God’s children are spiritual and always perfect, each healing is already complete—even if the human adjustment takes a bit more time then we would like.
I’m a graduate student and I often feel like I will never complete my degree. I sometimes think, “Why can’t I just be done with the degree? Why do I have to keep having to work out all these little details, which sometimes feel monotonous?” and “I feel like I am getting nowhere!” Once when I said all of those things to myself on a particularly challenging day, the thought came to me, “How much goodness have you expressed today?”
I admit that at first I thought, “What does that matter? Trying to do good doesn’t get the list of things to do for my degree done.” But the question came again, “How much goodness have you expressed today?” Instead of resisting the question, I decided to go with it.
I started to make a list of good things that had happened that day, whether it was something I did or just saw. As I did so, I started to realize that the point of a day was not to get tasks done, but to express God to our highest sense of right. So, completing my Master’s degree wasn’t so much about making that achievement, but more about learning about God and His love for me and all of His creation.
Of course, this degree may mean a better job, and fulfilling experiences, but it’s standing out that for me, it really means spiritual growth. I realized that the questions I should be asking are: “What is it that I am to learn today? How much good can I express today? What does God need me to do today? What am I to learn from this degree?” Not, “How fast can I get this degree completed?”
These thoughts have really changed my perspective. I have gone from looking to the future for opportunity and fulfillment to looking to the present for opportunity, fulfillment, security, success. This moment is God’s. It is infinite, perfect, divine, and holy—for everyone. I feel like I need to express God to the fullest right now instead of thinking that I’ll do it after I’ve gotten that degree. God is now. God is good. He is Life, Truth, and Love. He never deprives His children of His love. If we trust in Him to take care of us, things work out more perfectly than we could ever imagine. Mary Baker Eddy wrote in her book, Science &Health with Key to the Scriptures , “To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings.”
Though I am still working at completing my master’s degree, my focus has changed. Instead of waking up and thinking about my list of tasks to be checked off, I’m now looking at each day as a day of blessings. I start my day understanding that this day is God’s day.
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