Expect transitions toward good
Catherine Hellman | from the Christian Science Sentinel
If change appears chaotic, we can end the turmoil by realizing God is constantly present, loving and guiding us.
If only things would be peaceful for a moment. If only I could adjust to this change first before the next one comes along! I don’t know about you, but I’ve definitely had thoughts like those during defining times in my work life.
Yet, through all the changes—and there have been many—I’ve found sanctuary in one thing: the security of God’s presence. No matter where I was, no matter what job I was taking on, I could always turn to God not only to give me peace but also a sense of purpose and direction.
One of my favorite hymns is No. 148 in the Christian Science Hymnal:
In heavenly Love abiding,
No change my heart shall fear;
And safe is such confiding,
For nothing changes here.
Anna L. Waring
To me, the hymn suggests that no matter what’s happening, God is constantly there loving us, and that no want (no yearning) can turn us from following His guidance. What I love most about the hymn is that it ends with hope:
Green pastures are before me,
Which yet I have not seen;
Bright skies will soon be o’er me,
Where darkest clouds have been. . . .
My Father has my treasure,
And He will walk with me.
A couple of years after college, I moved to Alaska. While I was living there, I got the opportunity to work with juvenile offenders in a Boys & Girls Clubs of America program. The program operated within a state youth correctional facility, and its focus was all about making positive change happen in the lives of others. Since there weren’t many like it in the nation, my being hired for this job was a blessing in itself, and looking back now, I see it as part of divine Mind’s plan for me.
At first, I loved the job. I was a “Transition Specialist,” working with teens as they prepared for release from the facility back into their communities. Whether they were on their way to a new home, or going back to their old neighborhoods, I made sure they had support finding jobs and using the life skills the facility and our “clubhouse” program had taught them.
It took me no time to fall head over heels for the kids. Though these teens were considered to be some of the worst offenders in the state, and seeing past bad behavior to their spiritual identities was a daily challenge, each day became an adventure. The kids were all going through transitions, mostly trying to break free from their pasts. I’d try to figure out what I needed to do not only to provide the best guidance but also allow them to take ownership of the changes in their lives.
Even though it felt as if I could see the right answers, transformations didn’t always move quickly.
At first, my approach was logical enough. I pointed out activities the teens could do and jobs they could apply for in order to support their progress. I wanted to show there were options—breaking the law wasn’t the only way to survive. But even though it felt as if I could see the right answers, transformations didn’t always move quickly in the right direction. Many of the kids were labeled “hopeless,” unwilling to change. There was an expectation that within a few days many of them would be back to their old habits, hanging out with familiar friends or gang members and not being productive.
But instead of accepting this, each day I began to set up a “perfect model” in my thoughts as Mary Baker Eddy mentioned in Science and Health: “Let the perfect model be present in your thoughts instead of its demoralized opposite” (Science and Health, p. 407). It soon became easier to spiritualize my thoughts about the kids, noticing how intelligent, fun, and precious they really were.
As I began to consistently pray about my work, I also came to a huge realization. The bottom line was that facilitating change was not about me. It was about God and His influence on all of our lives. I wasn’t the one creating transitions; I was only a guide. I had to realize that it was my job to support the teens as they responded to the influence of divine Love. What they needed most was for me to express God’s unconditional love. I could see them as God saw them, acknowledging His love for them when the times got tough, and defending their right to express divine Principle when they made poor choices. That would be my contribution.
When we pray, God’s law adjusts everything in perfect balance.
In my prayers, I affirmed that God is always talking to us. And the best part is, no matter who we are and no matter how many times we mess up, He’s always right there, ready to pick us up. When we pray, God’s law adjusts everything in perfect balance.
Before long, I realized I was learning to trust God. Instead of trying to control every move these teens made, I was increasingly willing to sit back and watch Him work. This was a hard lesson to learn because I really wanted to change the teens’ lives and see them reach their full potential. I knew they could do it, yet I had to let go of working so hard at trying to manage how things should take shape.
There wasn’t a kid I worked with who didn’t, at some point, call on me for help. And I don’t think it was because of my personality. I believe it was because they sensed they could count on me to love them no matter what.
These lessons eventually helped me with a challenge I was having with my supervisor. I’d always been able to handle relationships, especially in the workplace, but this time it was different. It seemed that, no matter what I did, how much I tried to go above and beyond expectations, I could never do anything right in her eyes.
About a month after I started, I noticed a lack of consistency in daily routines. Our clubhouse program, where the teens would come to participate in job-skills and life-skills classes and sports, was in a state of crisis and constant flux. There were times when I would come to work and find that my supervisor had swapped what I would be teaching that day, leaving me either scrambling to stand firm with prior plans or conform to what she wanted taught. Unfortunately, this cut into my time working offsite in the kids’ communities.
I found the kids I worked with—the ones going through so much change—were acting more consistently than my supervisor. Some days I would come home in tears because I felt so fearful and angry about the environment I was working in. I knew that the program was bettering the lives of these children, yet all that instability among the staff was discouraging positive growth. (I even tried to leave the job, but when that didn’t work, I figured that God needed me right where I was.)
Instead of trying to make something happen outside of myself, I had the power to end the mental turmoil right within my own thoughts.
One day, I realized that instead of trying to make something happen outside of myself, I had the power to end the mental turmoil right within my own thoughts. So I took a page out of what I was teaching the kids: “We all have the power to say no.” We can deny that we’re stuck in chaos and inharmony—or that we can’t make a positive difference in the lives of others—because God never sees it that way. Mentally, I took a stand, in effect saying to a troubled state of affairs, “Thus far and no farther” (see Science and Health, p. 124).
Jesus once stilled a stormy sea after his disciples woke him up in a panic because their ship was sinking (see Mark, chap. 4). It wasn’t merely his words—“Peace, be still”—that caused the waves and wind to die down. It was his conviction, based on an understanding that God is the only power. No experience, no matter how unsettling, could ever have power over God.
I started practicing some of the life skills I’d taught the kids, and stopped trying to force a solution. My motto became “Love when it’s hardest to love.”
Gradually, I realized that the clubhouse program was needed to bless those teens, and that I wasn’t going to escape the blessing, either. As I left it with God, adjustments took place. My supervisor decided to leave. A new person took over, and I was promoted to a statewide position working in suicide and crisis prevention, intervention, and postvention. The transition was smooth and harmonious. One of the bonuses was that although the teens continued to move forward with the help of new skilled staff, I was allowed to keep in touch with the ones I’d been working with. A few of them continue to keep in touch with me today, and I enjoy expressing my pride and gratitude in their progress and successes.
From those experiences, I’ve learned how to embrace change as an opportunity for spiritual growth. A passage from Science and Health sums it up: “Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love. … The furnace separates the gold from the dross that the precious metal may be graven with the image of God” (Science and Health, pp. 66–67). Sometimes it’s hard to trust, but I’ve found that whenever I turn things over to God, the change—however unexpected—has been perfect and complete.
Submit Your Own Comment: