Article December 28, 2015 Issue

Watching our thoughts

Carol Rounds

Both Christ Jesus and the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, alert us to the need to be watchful. For instance, in The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mrs. Eddy writes: “Our Lord and Master left to us the following sayings as living lights in our darkness: ‘What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch’ (Mark 13:37); and, ‘If the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.’ (Luke 12:39)” (p. 232).

We need to be watchful and alert to false beliefs that claim that God, good, is not all-powerful, and we need to reason on the basis of truth, of spiritual reality, so that we can overcome such beliefs. Striving to center our thought and lives consistently on God, Spirit, rather than turning to God only in times of stress, helps us do this. If our prayerful work derives from a sense that we are preparing for or facing inevitable problems, while our intentions may be well-meaning, our thinking is still centered on material beliefs, and not on God. Our watchfulness then becomes more of a “watch out” approach, making a reality of evil.

Effective watchful alertness means being alert to evil but not dwelling on it and making it a reality. Instead, we want to quickly rise mentally to the perception and understanding of God’s omnipotence and omnipresence. As we do this, we will find ourselves able to maintain our poise and confidence in good more consistently.

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