by Casey Fedde
Paper or plastic? For here or to go? White or wheat? Everywhere I go, I am faced with decisions, and with every decision I am overwhelmed with indecisiveness. But since I came to Boston, I’ve learned that these little decisions of everyday life—while they may seem huge at times—have been easier to make. While I don’t consult God on what kind of bread to use for a sandwich, I do rely on Him for constant guidance.
During these past few weeks, I have settled into my job as an editorial assistant. I spend my ten-hour days in my eight-by-eight foot cubby hole compiling weekly newsletters and RSS feeds, and researching and writing headlines and articles (one on church membership just got published in the Christian Science Sentinel!). I also help update the website with new themed “Topics to Explore” and article reprints. In addition, I sit in the control room and help run the question feed for the live chats. Last week, I got to run the feed without the assistance and mentoring of my beloved co-worker, Christine.
One common denominator among all my responsibilities is thinking, which is ultimately inspiration. Even though I have been writing—freelancing as well as for a part-time job—for years now, I have never had to sit in a cubby hole in an office building and write on the spot. Talk about hard! Usually, I write when the ideas come to me and not just between 8am and 6pm. But now my co-workers rely on me to complete my writing assignments, especially the newsletter, by deadline. That often makes me feel stressed and frustrated. And there’s definitely no time to be nervous, afraid, and unsure, which have been common symptoms for me in new and challenging situations.
But as people rely on me, I rely on God. He always reassures me of my abilities and silences my worries and uncertainties. His reassurance often comes to me in quotes from the Bible, Science and Health, and other writings by Mary Baker Eddy.
In dealing with heightened stress and nervousness with last week’s newsletter, I prayed and opened to this quote, “The devotion of thought to an honest achievement makes the achievement possible.” I was then calmly able to meet my deadline because I understood that I was devoting myself to an honest achievement.
My reliance on God with writing assignments—and on those especially tough days in Boston of responding to the “paper or plastic?” conundrum—has grown this summer, more than I expected. And my summer isn’t even over yet….
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