"Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isaiah 28:10
"Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isaiah 28:10
The first year of my new job was very challenging. I loved nearly everything about it, but my boss and I clashed. I soon learned that she was renowned for her bullying approach, and that her ambition and desire to control were well known. This had been going on for many years, but others had learned to live with it. I really rebelled against the thought that anyone could control me, and knew that as a child of God each and every one of us could express dominion in any situation. I also felt 100% in my right place, thanks to the very clear answer I had received when praying about taking the position.
As every encounter with my boss proved to be impossible, and seemed to be resulting in physical discomfort, I turned to God before each meeting I had with her. I resolved to see only the one Mind, rather than the suggestion of two warring minds. I knew I would be blessed as I worked on expressing more humility. Through those first twelve months I had wonderful moments of healing. Looking back over my notes, these were my prayers and moments of healing:
• “Evil is neither person, place nor thing.” An article in the Aug 99 Journal was very helpful. The author talked about going ‘straight to work rebuking devil/evil rather than fiddling around believing it is a person or persons.’ This helped me to start reversing my thoughts, which had personalised evil and prevented love.
• “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God.” This helped me deal decisively with the constant imaginary arguments I was having in my thinking.
• “Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them.”
• “Mind regulates the condition of the stomach…and matter does not.” I was healed ot stomach pains which had stopped me from sleeping comfortably for 2-3 months.
I needed to face human ambition head on – and this was a wonderful passage to work with: “What grander ambition is there than to maintain in yourselves what Jesus loved.”
I also wrote the following note to myself: ‘Be militant about the RIGHT things – CLAIM, hold STEADFASTLY, and stick to the Truth. This helped me in a much wider healing of putting work and my commitment to it into the right perspective in my life. For the first time since I graduated I was able to appreciate the importance of work as part of ‘earth’s preparatory school.’ What a relief! I could finally understand why I needed to be at work, and dedicated myself to it with fresh inspiration.
Over the months I found it helpful to use something we had talked about in class. To cut through the magnetism in my thinking, I wrote down the things which seemed to be true (lies of mortal mind) and reversed them to see the truth of the situation. This helped me to feelmore gratitude, and to trust that I would find complete healing.
The full healing came after Christmas week, which I had dedicated to praying about the situation. I returned to work with love for my boss. I was able to show this in a very practical way when I thoroughly enjoyed making her a cake for her birthday – something which surprised everyone! Very shortly after, we had a calm and honest discussion about our previous relationship, which I knew was the work of divine Love, and this uncovered so many misconceptions and fears. We both resolved that the warring would stop, that we would appreciate each other’s skills, and that we would enjoy our debating!
You’ve guessed it – I love working with her now (still challenging, but fun!) and I can really appreciate the huge contribution she makes to the business. Others in the team have also remarked on her calmer and less confrontational approach.