by Chet Manchester

A friend of mine is in the executive job placement business. He’s what you call a “head hunter” — someone who helps businesses find the right person to lead their corporation or organization. Because he’s been doing this for the last couple of decades, he has a pretty good instinct about what businesses are looking for in their leaders. In these tumultuous financial times, what do you think was on his “top ten list” of most sought after characteristics? Experience?  Integrity?  Self-confidence?  A capacity to lead?  Yes, all those things.  But it was what he said last that really inspired me, “People with optimism about the future — those with a sense of possibility!”  He added that these kinds of attitudes are especially important in bleak economic times.  People are down enough about today’s problems and challenges, so employers are seeking people with vision and hope — those who can see solutions and opportunities.

This reminded me of a time when I was questioning my own sense of possibility. I was a freshman at Dartmouth College and after only a semester of classes, I had decided that there was something more out there for me. I withdrew from the College and was taking time off to focus on my art and to feed a hunger for spirituality that I felt in the pit of my stomach. To me, the world’s problems looked overwhelming — from over-population to environmental decline to the imbalance of wealth and resources around the world. For the first few months after leaving the routine of academics and familiarity of my college friends, I was feeling a little rudderless and uncertain about my future. But I was also beginning to look at life through a new lens as I read through for the first time a book called “Science and Health” by Mary Baker Eddy. If ever there were an author who had a sense of possibility, it was Eddy. Writing at a time when most of the scientific world was attempting to reduce everything to material causes and effects, she held that there was an underlying spiritual reality to life that held the solutions humanity was seeking. And that this spirituality was universal, accessible to everyone on the planet. As I read her book, I began to feel a shift in my thinking — from fear to hope, from self-doubt to a sense of possibility. Then, one night about midnight, a poem poured out of me in about a half-hour. It became the basis for a children’s book and I began to illustrate it the next day. I won the top prize for these illustrations at my art school later that year. And this project gave me the push I needed to continue pursuing my art — and to take the road less traveled with the rest of my life. I’ve never looked back.

So, how alive is your sense of possibility about your job search? How optimistic are you about your future? If you were to sit down today with the manager of a company or organization you really wanted to work for, would they see fire in your eyes, or fear? Possibility or uncertainty? What would set you apart from many others who may be interviewing for the same position? These are the kinds of questions I’m looking forward to exploring with students at Amherst College next week — and here on this site when we launch a podcast on the topic of “Inspiration for your job search.” I’m hoping that this event and podcast will begin a wider dialogue here and elsewhere about the search for meaningful work — how to find it and how to find out more about oneself in the process.

by Robin Hoagland

No one wants to be too predictable. 

No one wants to be told that a sophisticated software program can look at who you are online and predict your next purchases, your social activities, your politics …or what you’ll have for dinner that night.  It questions the whole concept of individuality and identity – the very things that make us us.

I’m different, we think to ourselves.  No one can possibly know the whole of me.  No matter how much information is on my Facebook page.  No matter what I posted yesterday.  I’m different today.  I’ve learned.  I’ve grown.  I’ve changed my mind.

And yet, we still want to feel a certain consistency within ourselves and with our friends.  We want to know that some things can be counted on – kindness, unselfishness, trustworthiness.  That others can count on us for these qualities.  That we can count on these with our friends.

All 642 of them?  Are they all friends we can rely on?  Friends who won’t change on us in fundamental ways?  Or is that potential for unexpected shifts in our relationships keeping us online a lot longer and with a lot more anxiety?

Where’s the program that predicts satisfying relationships?

Maybe what we’re searching for on Facebook and other online networks is something found only through a deeper sense of who we really are.  We need to look beyond our activities and interests and social contacts defining us.  There’s an individuality within each of us that we’re intuitively aware of and even protective of.  It feels greater than we can fully express in words or music or art.  What we’re feeling is our innate spirituality.

Inspired people throughout the ages have linked the essence of who we are to a divine source: God, Spirit, the unseen and unlimited power that animates all that is.  That invisible power has also been called eternal Love – infinitely fresh in expression but unvarying in quality.  Because of all that God is and expresses in us, you and I possess the ability to love with a spiritual consistency that makes us valued friends. 

A nineteenth century thinker saw how this spiritual sense of identity gives us “enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace.  (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p.265)  It’s a perspective that keeps pace with every advance in technology and social networking.

When we look to Spirit to define who we truly are, we’ll find that wonderful balance of uniqueness and continuity – a never-ending kaleidoscope of spiritual qualities that brilliantly color our lives.  And with growing confidence and irrepressible delight, we continually make new discoveries about ourselves.  No computer program can keep up with who we truly are. 

Gaining this inspired sense of identity strengthens us and improves all our relationships, whether we’re online or not.  And we realize it’s not how many friends we have.  It’s how much spirituality we see in ourselves and others that makes any friendship reliable and enduring – and truly worth counting.

I just got married! Does that change how I pray about love and romantic relationships? Well, yes and no; and really more no than yes. Why is that?

It turns out that the prayerful ideas which helped me before I got married have turned out to be equally powerful now that I am married. And, interestingly enough, on the morning of the very day that I had my first date with my now-husband, I posted three ways that I’ve taken a spiritual perspective on marriage on tmcyouth.com.

Here’s a summary of them:

1) One of my first steps in thinking about anything spiritually is to see where God fits into the picture. Another name for God that I like is Love. And, thinking in terms of relationships, I like to remember that my relationship with God, Love, is unbreakable, unconditional, eternal, and safe. It includes and provides all tenderness, embracing love, and understanding.

Truly, both before and after getting married, knowing how tenderly Love loves me is a rock, and an assurance that I will always have healthy opportunities to love and be loved. It removes fear in a way unlike any other, knowing that if I am striving to obey God and listen to Him, I will be clearly, peacefully and rightly guided into all good.

2) Another favorite step is to think about how God made me. I know that God made me complete, including everything I need. That means I don’t need to be searching for my “other half” somewhere “out there.” Right now, I can find within myself all goodness because God put it there. That includes all spiritual qualities, such as strength and tenderness, whether they are classified as masculine or feminine. I can express them openly and freely and feel how naturally they combine with each other.

Before marriage, knowing that I was complete took away all unnecessary hurry or pressure to find someone to complete me. Now that I’m married, all pressure is off my partner to fill some void that only God can fill… which He has actually already, always filled. And the entire time, knowing that those masculine and feminine qualities can come together naturally in me makes it easier to see how I can come together naturally with my husband.

3) My prayer always feels especially powerful when I include the world. One of my favorite authors, Mary Baker Eddy, describes our relationship with the world this way: “…one Father with His universal family, held in the gospel of Love” (Science and Health). I love knowing that my relationship to everyone is defined by this gospel or good news, and therefore nobody is left outside of this Love – including me. Nobody is a “throw away” or can be divorced or separated from this promise of eternal Love.

Before begin married, I really felt such bliss as I strove to see even the most difficult people in my life as held safely with me in this Love. I still do that, but now, knowing that both my husband and I are held by God in a perfect relationship with each other and everyone else takes away all possible friction between family members, friends, other commitments, etc.

These three things helped me affirm both before and after the wedding, that every person I see is already, right now, “happily married” in these ways despite how humanity might define their current status. And most of all, knowing that all of these things are sustained by God, for everyone, puts the icing on the cake. Mmmmmm thanks, God!!

After dinner tonight I asked my husband if he’d like some fresh grapefruit for dessert. Somehow peeling off the skin, carefully removing the membranes, and presenting a perfectly formed section of grapefruit is very calming and satisfying to me.

Actually the particular grapefruit I chose wasn’t very sweet and the sections weren’t even that juicey. Some fell apart. Yet the simple act of sharing that moment of quiet after dinner, and giving my husband a treat, was very satisfying.

Have I ever done that for myself? I can’t remember those times very often. But I do have precious memories of peeling a grapefruit at the office for a co-worker, and on a picnic with a friend.

Is this what purpose is about? Understanding the thought behind doing something, and appreciating the love that motivates it?

Have you heard the story about two men in a fishing boat? One of the men bends over and starts to drill a hole in the bottom of the little craft. The other looks at him and says, “What are you doing? You’re going to sink our boat!” The other replies, “Oh, don’t worry about it. The hole is on my half of the boat.”

One life-lesson I take away from this story is that we’re all in the same boat together, and the actions of one affect the well being of another.

We hear about the sinking economy in the media everyday. There sure seems to be a lot of holes in our collective “boat” that need plugging to keep our society from diving into a prolonged recession.

Some people feel fine. They have enough money to pay their bills. They have a secure job. They don’t have major financial worries. But many other people are concerned. They’re struggling to pay the bills, they may have lost their jobs and don’t know what to do next.

Whether we’re feeling good about our bank account, or staying awake all night in fear over it, it’s really in our best interest to help each other out. We can work as a team to plug the holes and meet people’s needs.

From the humble position I occupy in Richland, Washington, where I work, I do not have the power and position to make government policy and budgetary decisions that form and shape the economy. However, I do have the ability to encourage others and spiritually support their efforts to find economic solutions. Rather than selfishly ignoring the problems of others because their needs are not my needs, I do my best to love my neighbors, pray for them, and turn them to divine Mind, or God, for help when they need it.

You see, I believe there is an all-knowing Mind speaking to each of us, and that any new idea, fresh inspiration, or ingenious approach that leads to economic remedy, comes from this divine Mind. And I’ve learned through experience that the calmer our thought, the humbler and quieter it is, the sooner those inspirational and often saving ideas are heard.

So, when I meet friends, neighbors, or strangers worried about the economy, I do my best to hearten them, calm them, and help them tune into divine Mind where they can find the answer they need to hear. It’s one way I can keep my neighbor from drilling a hole of fear and distress in our common boat.

The helpfulness of spiritual ideas is one reason I like web sites such as this one. It’s a forum where spiritually minded people can share enlightenment with each other, dissolve public fears, and prevent more hole-drilling! Working together, we’ll keep the ship afloat.

by Ron Ballard

Campaigns generate a good deal of expectation and hope. I’ve been involved in quite a few where candidates connect with the aspirations and desires of the electorate. And certainly a fresh perspective and commitment to action often lifts the body politic from unintended habits and ruts and just plain mistaken approaches. But I’ve found that there is a more basic yearning that underlies political fervor—a yearning for righteous government.

We hear a lot about issues like healthcare, economic security and opportunity, personal safety, and the rights of self-government or self-determination in campaigns. My question: “from whom do we expect these needs to be supplied?” Most of the campaigns that I’ve been involved with had candidates who were sincere in their desires and promises to meet the needs of others. However, intents are often frustrated in the long process of implementation. Proposals frequently need legislative crafting which inevitably involves compromise, sometimes judicial review which puts implementation on a lengthy pathway, and eventually bureaucratic enforcement which is also not always a fast track.

While we all yearn for a more just and inclusive government, I’ve come to feel that something deeper than human desire is going to get us there. For me, that something deeper is prayer—a humble recognition that there is a higher government at work in our lives and in the world. I believe that this government flows from the nature of a loving God who is Principle, a universal presence and power that guides and cares for is all. Looking to a higher source than government to meet the demands and hopes of our lives not only can bring quicker results but longer-lasting ones.

I’ve found that seeing God as ultimately responsible for the good in our experience opens wider vistas of thought and resources, not to mention pleasantly unexpected resolutions. And placing our trust in this divine Principle to care and govern us assures our hope and frees us from the fears and anxieties that often surround mere partisan approaches or even hopes in candidates.

When a campaign is over, our involvement in the process actually just begins. Now we can move from focus on candidates to supporting prayerfully the implementation of a righteous government—one that expresses the higher nature of God.

by Robin Hoagland

Science vs. religion. Is it really versus???

There’s a long stretch of beach near my house where I love to walk. I stride with one leg solidly scientific—looking for understandable cause and effect, consistent principles and laws. The other leg—my religious leanings—keeps comfortable pace alongside it.

I walk past the empty shell of a horseshoe crab, a very old species. Millions of years old, scientists say. Much older than Adam and Eve. But that well known allegory about human choices—about whether we’re choosing what’s truly good or just being deceived by what appears to be good—is a lesson as fresh as each new wave that crashes on the sand just in front of me. What am I choosing to guide me? Is it consistent with wisdom, benevolence, and love? Or is it seductively attractive but ultimately empty and heart-wrenching?

My scientific side enjoys the rhythms of the waves, the striations of seaweed marking a succession of high tides coinciding with phases of the moon. My spiritual side loves the unexpected treasures of sea glass, the footprints of children beside lopsided sand castles, the artistic stack of weathered rocks in a whimsical cairn—all of which show a richness to life, creative thought and expression, a delight in life that no purely mechanistic explanation can compass.

Maybe science and religion are like prose and poetry. Two different ways to describe this wonder that is life. Each enhances my ability to look at the universe through a spiritual lens and see the Cause of all as simultaneously an ever present Principle and unwavering Love.

Here is a God that embraces both science and religion.

It takes courage to take on entrenched prejudices that keep science and religion from coalescing. A breakout thinker in this arena has been Mary Baker Eddy who wrote extensively on the demand for all true religion to conform to science, to rest on Principle and be provable. And she saw that science required the vocabulary of Cause, purpose, and meaning to meet humanity’s deepest yearnings.

Early Christianity was compelling, explained Eddy, because lives were changed for the better not by mystery and miracle but by a spiritual law not then understood. An understanding of this spiritual law brings dramatic physical, moral, and spiritual restoration to any age.

Together, science and religion can spur spiritual insights that go beyond the limits of human reasoning and give us expansive views of God and the universe. It’s as if we’re at the edge of a vast ocean of understanding. Instead of just walking along the shore, it’s time to launch out into depths not yet envisioned by either science or religion on their own.

by Chet Manchester

The biggest story of our time is not the financial crisis, as serious as it is, or the presidential election, as all-consuming as it may be right now. It’s something more profound, far-reaching—and closer to home for each one of us. And it has to do with that persistent hunger for something more in life. Something more substantial than your bank account, more dependable than stocks, more satisfying than pizza or partying or the perfect career. There’s no perfect way to describe it but the word that comes closest may be spirituality. We know it’s there somewhere and most of us want to feel more of it in our lives. So where do we start?

It’s a beautiful fall morning on the outskirts of Boston and all the trees in our neighborhood are glowing with color. Leafy canopies of gold, red, orange, green are rippling in a gentle wind. This is the first morning in awhile that I haven’t been rushing off to do something. All this beauty has just been waiting here for me to notice. I have a feeling that spirituality is a lot like that.

Spirituality is always present in our lives, shimmering in our peripheral vision. We’re warmed by it in the selfless gesture of a friend or neighbor; we’re moved by it in a song’s melody or a photographer’s image. We feel the effects of spirituality stirring in our lives the way the leaves outside my window are stirred by the wind. But we’re also drawn to know more about the source of it. I love the way a Jewish teacher and healer described this centuries ago. He said,

“The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

This is part of a hushed discussion that Jesus is having with a Jewish ruler who’s come to him under cover of night to ask him how he’s doing all his healing work. What Jesus essentially says to him is this: go back to your source, to Spirit, if you really want to grasp life.

Isn’t the universal quest for spirituality ultimately the desire to know God? We’re drawn to light in our lives the way plants and trees are drawn to the sun. It’s a very individual and personal quest and no one can make it for us. But we can take time to share what we’re learning along the way—with genuine humility and love. We can start by taking time to look out our windows to discover the beauty of spirituality that is always at hand, beckoning us to notice.