Healing weariness

When the alarm went off I was already tired. All week I had been rushing nonstop to meet deadlines at work and to get my house in order for weekend guests. It was Friday and I had important work to accomplish by noon. The houseguests were coming that night.

Would I ever make it? As a frantic, worn-out mortal, probably not. But through my study of Christian Science I had learned that my real being as God's image is immortal. I saw, then, that in the truest sense my strength came from God, Spirit—from the one divine Mind—not from a good night's sleep or a lively human mind or strong muscles. Here was an opportunity to prove it.

As was my usual practice (except for that week when I had felt too rushed), I took time to study the Bible Lesson outlined in the Christian Science Quarterly. And there was a particular Bible citation that graphically illustrated where all the strength and stamina I needed were going to come from: "Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? ... He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. ... They that wait upon the Lord ... shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." ^{Isa. 40:28, 29, 31.}

There was my answer. I needn't worry about having too many things to do for people. I was waiting on God, serving Him. My motives for doing the office work and having my houseguests was love. By keeping clearly in thought the conviction that strength and inspiration are unflagging because they come from God, I was able to turn away from an all-too-common material sense of pressure and weariness.

A passage from Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy was particularly helpful: "The scientific and permanent remedy for fatigue is to learn the power of Mind over the body or any illusion of physical weariness, and so destroy this illusion, for matter cannot be weary and heavy-laden.

"You say, 'Toil fatigues me.' But what is this me? Is it muscle or mind? Which is tired and so speaks? Without mind, could the muscles be tired? Do the muscles talk, or do you talk for them? Matter is non-intelligent. Mortal mind does the false talking, and that which affirms weariness, made that weariness." ^{Science and Health, pp. 217–218.}

I could stop arguing on the side of weariness; stop feeling a little sorry for myself because I had to move furniture and lift heavy loads getting ready for my guests. I had been expressing love, and I knew I didn't have to suffer for it. Nor did I have to approach this day with a feeling of burden and pressure. Everything that needed to be done would be done—properly and in good time.

What a rest it is to turn away from the mental picture of a tired body and weary mind and too much to do, and accept in its place the harmony and continuity of one's true spiritual being. Driving to work that morning, I could actually feel weariness and anxiety yield to spiritual strength and dominion.

My office work, which had been put off all week and loomed so large, was finished by noon. The inspiration I had gained through early morning prayer and study took over. And the weekend visit was such a joyful one I remember it to this day.

God is indeed our unfailing source of strength. When we humbly trust Him and yield to His infinite goodness and care, we can confidently know, with our Master, Christ Jesus, that "it is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing." ^{John 6:63.} And this spirit of God never fails us.

A religious article, treating a contemporary topic and showing how spiritual insight can help and heal, is published in each edition of The Christian Science Monitor. From time to time we reprint Monitor religious articles of special interest to Sentinel readers.