It's God's day -- glorify it!

WE'VE all had days that seem to drag from the start. Sometimes people say, ``I got out of bed on the wrong side.'' ``What happens when we get out of bed on the right side? What is that right side?'' I asked myself. Immediately words spoken centuries ago popped into my mind: ``Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.''1 These were words of Christ Jesus to his weary disciples. They had fished all night and caught nothing. After Jesus' crucifixion they must have dragged their mental feet with heavy thoughts of sorrow and futility. Was another uninspiring day rolling by? They were burdened by materiality and grief. How quickly their mood changed when they obeyed that voice of their risen Master on the shore and cast their net on the right side, finding it filled with fishes.

Obedience to the call of Christ, the spiritual idea that Jesus exemplified, is answered prayer for us, too. When we begin each day with prayer, we will find that we expect great blessings. We will see each day as God's day and rejoice in it. If, of course, our prayer is a doubting, timid appeal to God for help, we may not expect much or, for that matter, see it. But if our prayer embodies a grateful recognition that God is Love, the sole creator of the universe, and that there is nothing good left out of His creation and no way to deprive His offspring of good, then we'll begin to see the fruits of that understanding.

Each day is useful as we are willing to serve God, to glorify Him in whatever we do. Man is God's workmanship, expressive of good alone. Man embodies God's qualities. God expresses good in man, for man is made in His image. This is the reality of our being, our actual, spiritual nature. The reality may often seem hidden, to say the least, and it may appear that God is distant and of no help. But this is a false sense of things, and as we cast our thoughts on the right side, on the side of infinite good, seeking it, acknowledging it, pondering it, expressing it, we'll find that our day will be blessed, come what may. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes, ``God expresses in man the infinite idea forever developing itself, broadening and rising higher and higher from a boundless basis.''2

Casting our thoughts on the right side, God's side, takes spiritual watchfulness, deep prayer; for the sense of constantly being involved in a superficial, materialistic concept of existence pulls heavilyon human consciousness. We get so busy crowding into a day much that we could have done without and that hasn't served to make it a valuable day.

Spiritual watchfulness raises the standard of human thinking by making us more alert to detect negative impulses and cast them aside as unworthy of this day -- not through mere positive thinking but through divine power reflected in prayer.Our day won't be a bore when we live it with the goal of glorifying God. Whatever our occupation, our day can be productive, inspiring, a great blessing to ourselves and to mankind. The opportunity is ours, the power is God's.

As we release ourselves from doubt, defeatism, confusion, fear, and so forth, through prayer, and have steadfast trust in God's unfailing love and wisdom to direct our day, each hour will serve us well. Setting aside any tendency to complain about every little thing and replacing it with meekness, humility, quiet listening to God's Word will go a long way to enrich our day and establish priorities.

Man's true selfhood is spiritual, not material. It's complete and fulfilled. A worldly sense of things may scream at us that there's no more hope for today than yesterday or that we can't meet today's demands. But with Love's help, God's omnipotence, and our willingness to cast our thoughts on the right side, our day will be one of sharing with the world the spiritual manhood and womanhood of our being.

In the consciousness of God's presence -- and God is always present -- there is no dreary self-centeredness, no cheerless withdrawal or introversion. Each day is filled with His blessings. This isinfinitely more than wishful thinking ora pleasant but impractical philosophy. Man is inseparable from God, from the infinite power and grandeur of divine Mind, and this truth can be borne out in our lives through prayer. We can prove that divine Love meets every need this day, and every day!

1John 21:6. 2Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 258.

You can find more articles like this one in the Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly magazine. DAILY BIBLE VERSE: This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalms 118:24