Throughout his mission on earth Christ Jesus spoke of and demonstrated the importance of watching and praying. He proved his immunity to temptation because he knew and acknowledged no power but God. His conscious, constant realization of the real man's at-one-ment with God enabled him to accomplish mighty healing works.

The Scriptures tell us that Jesus spent whole nights in prayer to God. We may be sure that he was not only claiming and affirming his sonship with God but also listening for God's guidance. He was not keeping these vigils for himself alone but was watching over a world whose salvation had been entrusted to him by the Father.

One of Jesus' statements on the subject of watching was (Mark 13:37), "What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch." Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, considered these words so important that she had them placed on the cover of the Christian Science Sentinel. They serve as a clarion call to all Christian Scientists.

Two dictionary meanings of the verb "watch" are "to be awake; to keep vigil." The student of Christian Science realizes that in order to maintain his sense of well-being and to progress in his understanding of God, he must watch his thinking. He must be awake to the demands of divine Science for loyalty to God and for purity, and he must guard his mental home with alert vigilance.

Throughout her writings, Mrs. Eddy tells of the importance of watching. One instance is found on pages 128 and 129 of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany," where she counsels: "Watch, and pray daily that evil suggestions, in whatever guise, take no root in your thought nor bear fruit. Ofttimes examine yourselves, and see if there be found anywhere a deterrent of Truth and Love, and 'hold fast that which is good.'"

Through her consecrated study of the Bible, particularly of Jesus' teachings, Mrs. Eddy learned how to emulate the Master's healing works and gave her discovery to the world in Christian Science. So well has she established the Science of spiritual healing, the method taught and practiced by Christ Jesus, that it can never be lost to humanity again if its adherents watch that its purity be not adulterated.

Christian Science is doing what no other system of religion or education has ever accomplished. It teaches the allness of God, good, and the consequent unreality of evil. It teaches that God, the one all-inclusive divine Mind, and man, God's perfect image, are inseparable but individual in nature and office; that God is the only creator and that man reflects God's qualities and attributes; that God is omnipotent and that man reflects this omnipotence in strength and intelligence and cannot in reality be subject to lack, weakness, or ungodlike qualities.

In the Manual of The Mother Church, Mrs. Eddy has given another potent statement about watching. In the By-Law entitled "A Rule for Motives and Acts," she gives this guidance (Art. VIII, Sect. 1): "The members of this Church should daily watch and pray to be delivered from all evil, from prophesying, judging, condemning, counseling, influencing or being influenced erroneously." We should be alert to establish a systematic daily defense against all erroneous thinking.

The importance of watching, of keeping alert, was vividly proved to the writer some years ago. She was entertaining house guests from overseas, and in her desire to make everything pleasant for them, she had permitted a sense of hurry and false responsibility to enter her thinking.

After breakfast, she fell on a concrete floor and was carried to her bed unconscious. A Christian Science practitioner was immediately called, and at the end of three days the healing was almost complete.

However, in spite of her great gratitude, the writer failed to watch her thoughts. Instead, she let them dwell on the severity of the fall and on the wonder of such a quick healing. She made a reality of the experience instead of maintaining the spiritual fact that actually nothing had happened to her as God's spiritual idea. The next day she found herself unable to move.

She now saw that by entertaining the suggestion that there had been an accident, she was not being obedient to the teachings of Christian Science. She began to pray fervently to put all her trust in God and to be delivered from the temptation to believe in the accident as having any power or reality.

After nine days of consecrated work by the practitioner, the complete and permanent healing came. This experience taught the writer the important lesson of being always alert to deny evil and to accept only good as real.

To study the letter of Christian Science may seem easy for many of us, but to imbibe the spirit of Christian Science requires that we put into practice the understanding that unfolds to us as we study the letter.

As one perseveres in the faithful practice of watching his thinking, allowing only that which is good and pure to occupy his consciousness, he will find himself reflecting more love, enjoying a happier home, experiencing a better business, a healthier body, and a greater sense of freedom and abundance.

To be worthy of being called a Christian Scientist requires watching diligently, admitting no unworthy thought into consciousness but being alert to entertain only that which is Godlike.