PURSUING OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

The news report showing a picture of a well-known CEO who left a major company some weeks ago said that he “resigned to pursue other opportunities”.    Sometimes these articles say “She left to spend more time with her family” or “He left due to ill health.”  For those of us who have been there, we know that he was probably terminated. 

I know so well the feeling of “pursuing other opportunities”, the standard phraseology for “we dumped him”!! I have been in the same wing-tip shoes, not as a top-level CEO but just as a person who was trying to do a good job but, through political circumstances, found that I was being separated from the company.

I didn’t leave my job to pursue “other opportunities” or any of the above “make everyone feel good” reasons. I was 

T E R M I N A T E D!!!!!!

The position I had held was a responsible one, managing a large operation, multiple million-dollar projects, pressure, deadlines, long hours. To an observer it appeared that I held a very good position, but in all honesty, I was not enjoying it. 

 

As I passed by a local country club golf course each morning on the way to the office, workers were mowing the grass, tending the fairways and the greens, and my thoughts turned to how fortunate they were, how I would love to have a job that was well-defined, that had less pressure, that was something I would really enjoy. But nonetheless like so many others, feeling chained to a position, I dutifully drove on to the office and faced the task each day. 

The job loss was a shock, of course, but after a

short period of feeling 

sorry for myself, blaming the company, my manager, bristling with all of the self 

justification arguments that people conjure up, I finally woke up. This was getting me nowhere.

From that moment I knew that whatever else I did, my new and most important job was being the full-time representative of my Father, God, who “owns the company” so to speak. In the end, I report only  to Him, and it is a lifetime, an eternal position!! I saw that my job had resulted in my neglecting the most important thing, listening to God, I had fallen behind in staying in tune with my spiritual heritage.  I quickly saw that this termination was really a blessing, a reminder that the important thing is to listen.

So, I got up every morning, put on my suit and tie, prepared for work expectantly, since someone might want me to start immediately!  Then, each morning, I asked God to lead me, to point me in the direction that I should walk that day. A Bible companion book I rely on, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures has this assurance: Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds.*   I have found that prayer is actually a process of listening, not telling. God, the spiritual source of our being, has ALREADY supplied us with all good, and prayer, when we LISTEN, brings us into harmony with what God has ALREADY done, FULL EMPLOYMENT! 

Those thoughts that just seem to pop up in thought have an actual intelligent source, divine Mind, God. Jesus pointed out a practical fact about existence and employment when he said:

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” **  THAT was my inspiration. By virtue of my “being” I was taken care of by the Father.

I did make phone calls and sent out resumes, but not with the feeling of desperation or discouragement, even after some weeks, but patiently seeking the right path. I prayed to know that my true employment was in reflecting Godlike qualities no matter what other human activities were required;  that sometimes obstacles lie in our path but that they are opportunities to overcome and to grow.   Moses had to go through the Red Sea as part of his search for a homeland; David had to go fight a giant named Goliath; Daniel’s work was interrupted when he was sent to the lions den. I too had my task, why should I complain? 

Many people go from job to job over the years thinking of  their life of work as a "sentence”,  as punishment!! 

Breaking out of the rut, enables many to finally realize that life does not have to be years of a “nose to a grindstone” experience, but can provide opportunities to be inspired and to inspire others, to be fulfilled and to fulfill the dreams of others, to give of our very best talents. We find avenues to share undiscovered talents and abilities, hidden for years beneath the layers of convention, of “fitting in’, following the expected, sometimes the mundane and often the boring existence laid upon us.

Looking back over their careers, people of all walks of life have found that their most precious memories are not of business or professional success, wealth earned, status gained, but fond memories of people who have helped and been helped along the way, treasured moments of friendship and comradeship, cherished instances of comforting someone, or being comforted during troubled times.

How do we do that? By realizing that whatever our daily work includes, our real and eternal employment is serving as proof of God’s presence, the outcome and reflection of God, just as rays of the sun serve to convey the Sun’s qualities to earth. The Sun’s rays do not get up every morning and wonder what their job is, or if they will lose their job!! Their job is to shine, to reflect the qualities of their creator, the Sun, they are there to warm the earth, to feed the crops and animals and all life with sunlight. And our task is to shine as rays of love and comfort to the world.   Continuous employment!!

           

With this new inspiration, I let go of the worry, the “what will other people think” thoughts, the disappointment in self, the questioning of why and, with joy, pursued "Other Opportunities!"

God had a plan and a path and it unfolded to me in tangible ways. I was led to form a business with my next-door neighbor and this led to eventual employment by a major corporation in the same industry.

When we are employed by God, when we see our life not as a daily drudge, carrying out human activity to earn a paycheck, nor walking towards old age, but see our role as individuals who are living to reflect goodness, mercy, tenderness, selflessness, lending a hand to those in need, our employment is full-time and overflowing.   In that same textbook, Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy observes: To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, today is big with blessings"!!! ***

God is looking for applicants. No experience necessary.

*      Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures - Mary Baker Eddy

**    The Bible  Matthew 6:28

***  Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures - Mary Baker Eddy