You may be thinking, and quite naturally so, what can she give us on business, other than a few academic statements, which are mostly assumptions on her part. She has never run a business. But neither did Jesus ever run a shoe factory, a drygoods store, a cannery, a grain elevator, or a farm, yet he was the greatest business man in the world.

The world will never know a greater business executive than Jesus. No red tape prevented him from making delivery of the loaves and fishes, the wine at the wedding feast, and the tax money instantly. Jesus knew nothing about delay or future delivery. Jesus recognized omnipresent good at hand and the only thing at hand.

Since Jesus was always about his Father’s business, what was Jesus’ business? Jesus’ business was to express or show forth to the world all the infinite actualities, all the conscious operations of his Father-mind. Everything of which he was conscious was to him an actuality – one with his Father-Mind. Everything, every actuality was something for him to utilize, and show forth and operate according to his will.

Every activity of the divine Mind is primarily a business activity, and is wholly mental. Humanly speaking every activity of the divine Mind is for the purpose of supplying wants and needs of mankind. There is nothing going on in the world, whole world, but business activity. Business of every name and nature is infinite activity. Infinite actualities of the divine Mind are expressed humanly, and students, like Jesus, the business of each one of us is to utilize, show forth, and be this activity and actuality of the divine Mind.

To Jesus, all business activities were evolved by the divine will, and were governed by the divine Mind, even to the slightest detail. To Jesus all business activities went on unceasingly and in divine order. Since divine Mind was infinite business, Jesus, being the full expression of divine Mind, expressed infinite business.

Since we are not separate from God, our own Mind, we are not something separate from our business. All there is to us is divine Mind expressed as business. Our very nature and being is dominion, is possession, is expression, is evidence. We embody opportunity, capacity, ability. Since we express the infinitude of the divine Mind, then, whenever a higher realization of business appears as our consciousness, there appears also the inevitable conscious evidence of a better business.

According to sense testimony, and especially in the light of actuality, there is entirely too much feeble thinking about business going on among Christian Scientists. We find it much easier to walk into or with the currents of mortal thought concerning our business, than to overthrow within ourselves this disastrous, feeble thinking that is purely mortal mind thinking.

We are the dominion that divine Mind is being, and we should see to it that divine Mind in its fulfillment operates our business. The only way in which we can change business conditions is to change our own thinking. Our thinking and our business are identical. We change our business conditions within our own thought only – that is the only place we know anything about business. So much of the feeble thinking that is being indulged in by Christian Scientists should be “an offense” unto us. As Christian Scientists we should “Awake And Inherit”.

According to belief, or generally speaking, business is the expression of the mass thinking of human beings. The human being and his business are one. Business is the expression of the human being’s thought. What we call business appears very human, very emotional. It appears to have heart and soul. It appears to live and die. According to belief, business is dependent entirely upon the human being who thinks it. Business is very sensitive to the good or bad thinking of the individual business man.

Good or bad business germinates in our thinking, from poor judgments, from mental fear, and especially from our own mental malpractice and mental persecution about our own business. Good business prevails with universal good thinking. Good scientific thinking within ourselves, about our own business, germinates security and provides us humanly with right and legitimate wants and needs.

Our highest sense of business is that it will supply our legitimate wants and needs. So long as human beings remain civilized and use their minds to think the wants and needs of the people, there will be in evidence what we call business activity. At this moment the United States is so concerned and so involved mentally in world events, that she is drifting away from the normal wants and needs of mankind. When a people become subnormal in its thinking, the business very quickly becomes subnormal. There has never been a time in all history when unity of thought among men is more vitally needed than it is today. There has never been a time when strong constructive thinking from every human being who knows how to reflect true thought, is so much needed.

Divine Love does not give us things in the usual sense of the word “give”. We already are the all that divine Love is being. The belief that divine Love gives what we desire is comforting, but it is purely a human view, and is only relatively true. The fact is that we cannot even have a desire. Before a desire can be uttered, we already possess that very thing.

God shows forth all that He is, through His manifestation, man. Our business is to utilize, show forth to the world these infinite actualities of the divine Mind that are already ours by virtue of our oneness with the divine Mind. As our thinking becomes like divine Principle, or is the thinking that divine Principle is being, then this divine Principle within us, as us, evidences itself forth as infinite good or as good business.

Have you ever tried to hold your thought in oneness with the divine Principle that governs for three consecutive days? I wish each one of you would try it. It may seem arduous at first, but when you really start for the Father’s house (true consciousness about business) true consciousness will come out to meet you and will embrace you, and make a feast of good things for you – tangible things, things· according to your highest comprehension of what they should be  as business.

When working for our business, we do not think as much about ways and means of business, but we think of Principle – that is, we keep our thought active as divine Truth. This Truth active in our consciousness takes care of ways and means in our business. Our individual mind is the one Mind – the one Principle, and is already in conscious expression and operation as the so-called material ways and means. Like Jesus, our business is to recognize this fact of divine Principle, utilize it, and let it express itself.

We do not outline in business. We often feel that certain things in our business should occur in a certain way which we have more or less outlined, But Principle, Truth alone outlines its own activities and operations, and these go on eternally. And when we think as Principle, or think as though we were Principle, itself, doing the thinking, then we have real demonstration in our business – demonstration that far exceeds our outlining.

But it is not by thinking only, that we overcome human difficulties in business. We think the Truth pertaining to our business and then we must execute this Truth. The thinking and the concrete evidence is a unit. Jesus always presented the concrete evidence, human or material, of Truth in all his demonstrations.

We might declare Principle or Truth all day, but if this Principle or Truth is not wrought out in concrete human or material evidence, we shall not get very far in our business. It is not enough to just say a lot of statements of Truth. We must declare the truth with full conviction that the Truth is true, and then this truth must be wrought out in our business. In this way only does Truth become a law to our business.

It is our business to make our business pay, and we do this by strict adherence to divine Principle. So-called human business is really divine business appearing humanly. Then because of its divine source, our human business should be better every day. Every Christian Scientist should be getting richer, not because we desire material riches, but because we are demonstrating infinity. And there is no limit to infinity.

Practically all business is carried on in order to have an income, and this is as it should be. And it is natural for us to look to our business for our income, rather than to look to infinite Mind. But we may be sure that our business will yield a better income, when we understand that our business IS infinite Mind itself expressed infinitely as our income. Our business is not a medium for our income, but our business IS our income.

Mrs. Eddy has written the following article, entitled:

MY INCOME

“My income is Life and Love and Truth. It is equal to all demands made upon it. This income is my inalienable possession, derived from no earthly source, supplied through no material channels; dependent upon no personality or personal effort, not even my own, but coming to me direct from God. Mine to receive, to possess, to use, but never to waste or hoard. It is to be received without fear, or doubt, shared without apprehension that all supply can fail. ‘All things that the Father hath are mine.’ These come to me and constitute my income unfailingly, abundant, ample for any demand that can be made upon it.”

Business men often think their business is regulated by the government, or by adverse circumstances over which they have no control. But in reality, business is governed by divine Principle alone. We include our business in our thought and it depends upon the consciousness we entertain about it. We are not in our business, our business is in us. Business cannot think whether it will be good or bad, but is governed entirely by our thought that is Principle or by our thought that is belief. There is nothing enacted by outside circumstances that can interfere with our business.

Adverse circumstances – even the extreme circumstances of death and corruption – did not interfere with Jesus’ business of showing forth the concrete evidence of everpresent Life and wholeness that was Lazarus. To Jesus, Life was an actuality. It came from divine Mind. It was governed and controlled by divine Mind and was forever expressed by the life of Lazarus. Jesus knew that life was a fact of divine Principle, he therefore made this fact active as his consciousness and the concrete evidence of life appeared.

Divine Principle governs our business absolutely and imperatively. We may find it difficult to demonstrate this fact instantaneously, but we shall experience fewer difficulties when we remember that divine Principle demonstrates its own facts. When we clear away false beliefs, the aggressive mental suggestions, the deflections of actualities from our thinking, we shall find the spiritual facts of business at hand, in the same way that Jesus found the fact of Life at hand. We should never permit our thinking to be regimented “into or with the currents of mortal thought” concerning business. Our thought should be kept in line with the facts of divine Principle, and these facts should be kept active as our consciousness.

Every business man should understand his business to the slightest detail. He should manage his business according to the highest business principles. He should fit himself for leadership and earnestly strive to improve the control of his business. When he has others in his employ, he should be able to instruct them in what they should do, and how they should do it, and then see that the work is properly done.

When a Christian Scientist brings himself and his employees and his activities in line with the facts of divine Principle, he has been doing much more than establishing right activity in his business. Such a Christian Scientist is helping to establish Church. He is giving proof that his business is church “because it rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle”. Business when correctly understood is never material, but is divinely spiritual.

Whatever the nature of our business activity, we should always be practical. That we should become skilled, practiced and experienced in our business. Jesus was: practical and he was always · successful. What we need to make our business practical is Love and more Love. But there is nothing soft about Love. Love is as keen as steel. Love is Principle, and Principle demands of us that we discipline our thought, and use our God-bestowed dominion in our business.

Sometimes a Christian Scientist whose understanding is somewhat limited will say “All is Love”, and let his business take care of itself the best it can. Through this mistaken sense of Love, his business is very apt to be lost. Just to say “All is Love” without the concrete evidence of Love’s presence, is not enough. Christian Scientists should be alert, intelligent, prompt, and utilize and show forth the concrete facts of Principle, Love in their business.

In the business world today we seem to come face to face with much personal propaganda, much selfishness and greed, dishonesty and lack of cooperation. All this is animal magnetism and mental malpractice, but as Christian Scientists do we fear these beliefs of life and intelligence in matter – these deflections of actualities? Animal magnetism and mental malpractice are nothing claiming to be something. And Mrs. Eddy says, “Why stand aghast at nothing(ness)?” We should not let these false suggestions in our business deceive us. We know where we contact them and where to destroy them. Students, we control our business through the understanding that business is mental and spiritual and governed by divine Mind, or our business controls us through our belief that it is apart from us and is material and governed by many minds. We control our business with the truth we entertain, or our business controls us through the beliefs we entertain.

One of the first scientific principles that a Christian Scientist puts into practice in the business world is the fact that when he knows a thing humanly, there exists at hand its actuality. The Christian Scientist begins to understand, to have faith, and to demonstrate that the actuality of his business is all there is to his business humanly. And he gives proof that not only his stomach, and his heart, and lungs, but his stocks, his money, his office force, and his salesmen are divine activities, although imperfectly seen by him. Actualities only are at hand. The human concept, like the mirage lake, does not add to the actuality, nor take from the actuality; there is present only divine actuality.

All there is to what we call stocks and bonds, to securities of all kinds, and to our business is the divine actuality at hand. In their reality, these are something that divine Mind is consciously being. They are established and secure, and permanent in the compound idea, man. The human concept of stocks and bonds, of securities, and of business is that they are material, that they are separate from God, and separate from our consciousness. That their value can fluctuate, or they can be lost altogether. What an untrue concept of actuality! what an untrue concept of God and His compound idea – man.

It may be that we have experienced a sense of loss in our stocks, or bonds or our business. But stocks, or bonds or business, even in belief have nothing to do with our sense of loss. This seeming sense of loss is formed wholly by mortal mind. Mortal mind has made the law that if we have stocks, or bonds, or business, that it is possible for us to have the sense of loss. But the stocks and bonds, and business had nothing to do with forming it, and man had nothing to do with forming it. The sense of loss is wholly mortal mind sense. Nobody or nothing caused it. It is mesmerism; a deflection of an actuality.

We have all been on a train that was standing still, when another train passed by, and we all had the sense that our train was moving. Now the sense of moving was wholly within us. But mortal mind alone is the sense of moving. We did not have the sense of movement, neither we nor the train moved.

There is no more truth to our sense of loss than to our sense of movement. We handle any false sense, as no sense, whether it is pain, or disease, or loss. We detach the pain, or disease from the body, likewise we detach the loss from the stocks and bonds, and from our business, and we understand that this false sense was not formed by our Mind and was not formed at all.

We meet the sense of loss when we understand that it is without cause, that it is wholly apart from ourselves, and wholly disconnected from stocks and bonds and business. We meet within ourselves the suggestion that there is a sense of loss, or ever has been a sense of loss. When we understand that a sense of loss is never our sense and is never a reality, then we shall see our stocks and bonds, and our business in their actuality established and unfailing in their perfection.

The only man there is – the real man – does not know a stock market with fluctuations. The real man knows actualities only. The only thing that represents God is God Himself. There are no values outside the infinity of God. Infinite good, by reflection is possessed by each one of us, and if this infinite good appears to our consciousness as stocks and bonds, or business, then they must have the actuality or quality of actuality. They cannot fluctuate or be lost because they are actualities, even though imperfectly seen by us, and they can only unfold to us as higher good.

The seeming mortal mind that appears to be here, and says there is something that can be lost, is not here. There is no mortal mind. Business cannot be lost because it is an actuality. If we seem to have experienced loss in the past, we can still prove that what seemed to be lost is still intact in its perfect completeness. And if we do not reproduce it in the form in which it seems to be lost, we shall find it in a higher form of good. How can this be true? It is true because our human concept is constantly rising higher – rising into reality. It is never too late to take up the sense of loss and dispose of it scientifically.

Another scientific Principle that Jesus practiced in his business was the reciprocal law of Being that governs the relationship of man. According to human sense, business involves many minds, many opinions, many degrees of education, etc. But in all these things Jesus practiced scientific relationship; a relationship that was mental and spiritual, and not personal relationship at all.

Relationship in business always “rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle”. Divine Principle has infinite ways and means with which to supply the business man. These ways and means are open, free and unobstructed. They operate as reciprocal laws of Being that coordinate and are fitly joined together. What is apparent to human thought as one person or thing supplying the need of another person or thing, is the reciprocal law of Being reflecting the wholeness of itself to each individual expression of itself. Students: we should, more and more, recognize and utilize this reciprocal law of Being that is ever in operation in our behalf and the behalf of those with whom we deal.

Students: These deeper things of Mind are not always easy to comprehend, but they will unfold to those who have eyes to see, and ears to hear. There are some here today who will go along in the usual grooves of mortal thought for another season, but there are many here who will rise to heights before unknown.