Watchfulness: What is it really about?

Several times in the Gospels, Jesus counseled people to cultivate watchfulness. He said pointedly to his disciples, “What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch” (Mark 13:37).

What is this watching about, and why is it so important? Christian Science teaches that what we accept as true and real markedly affects all that we experience. It is vital, then, to be watchful and embrace in thought only that which is valid and promotive of good in our lives and in the world.

While the world’s landscape of events warrants careful surveillance, consciousness is the crucial place to practice moment-by-moment watching—whether events and needs are personal or global in nature. Then, we can discern between what is valid or true and what is not. The Discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, observes, “To be delivered from believing in what is unreal, from fearing it, following it, or loving it, one must watch and pray that he enter not into temptation—even as one guards his door against the approach of thieves” (Message to The Mother Church for 1901, p. 14).

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