When we think of the works of Christ Jesus, of which John wrote that the world could not contain all the books that might be written to record them, we see that he wasted no time and did all things promptly and well. The Master was an early riser; sometimes he prayed all night, and he urged his followers to do good works.

His faithful follower, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, also daily accomplished great good for humanity. She too urges us not to waste time but to work.

In Christian Science anyone can learn how to begin the day right. Study of the Bible and the textbook of Christian Science, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, refreshed us for the day's work.

The Psalmist speaks of going to sleep conscious of God's care, "Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways." He sets the mood for waking, conscious of inseparability from God, "When I awake, I am still with thee." ^{Ps. 139:3, 18;}

If we retire and wake with thought held to infinite good, we are prepared to silence effectively any tempting suggestion of sleepiness, indolence, foreboding, self-pity, or craving for material ease. We can wake up eager to be good and to do good. For help, we cannot turn to both Spirit and matter, since these are opposites. To begin well, we must consistently accept perfect God and perfect man as fundamental to our thinking and acting, and then we must press on faithfully in this perfect way.

What lies deepest in the heart usually comes first to thought on waking. Is the thought material or spiritual? If material, we should bring our thinking instantly into Truth's clear light; then the material shadow will be dispelled. The sunshine of Truth, focused on our thinking, clarifies, strengthens, vitalizes us for the day's work.

It is a great mistake to start the day with a heavy heart or a burdened sense of work. Our textbook assures us, "Good is natural and primitive." ^{Science and Health, p. 128;} Then surely it is natural for all those who know that man is God's child to be good, to do good, and to have a good day.

Lying animal magnetism, or evil mind, would have us resist all that is good and accept various claims of material sense instead of holding to the demands of spiritual sense. This activity of error must be reckoned with, repudiated as godless, and seen as powerless to stop us from getting at our work promptly, diligently, joyfully. Many Scientists find it helpful to begin the day with the Word of God, studying first the weekly Lesson-Sermon, outlined in the Christian Science Quarterly.

The instant animal magnetism makes a suggestion is the time to silence it, to refuse to listen to it or to respond to it in any way. By filling thought with infinite good, we leave no room for error. We give error no reality, past, present, or future. We deny it identity; we find that it is nothing and nobody. With a clear sense of good and of good's infinite manifestation, we find ourselves cheerfully at work for the glory of God.

If discord should appear, we try to do as Jesus did—penetrate the material evidence and find all cause and effect in God alone. Good alone is present, and we must be determined not to postpone its appearing by any disbelief on our part. We commune with God as did the Psalmist, "The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me." ^{Ps. 138:8;} With heart wide open to God's infinite goodness, we make room for good alone in our consciousness; we are alert to receive it, to express it, and to give thanks for it.

Since only good has Principle behind it, evil cannot force itself upon us. We seem to express or experience evil only by losing sight of good through mistaking the unreal for the real. An untoward experience or strain is not a reality but a dream-shadow. Mrs. Eddy says, "The fading forms of matter, the mortal body and material earth, are the fleeting concepts of the human mind." ^{Science and Health, pp. 263, 264;} Are we going to start our day with fleeting, instead of permanent, concepts?

Individual moral choice is involved. We should turn directly to divine Mind for intelligence, strength, and enthusiasm. God never fails anyone who depends on Him. With His help we can shake off any hint of dullness, inactivity, or lovelessness and have the authority to dismiss it. Doing so, we increase our preparedness to receive good and our ability to do good to mankind.

Each good beginning, carried forward unbroken, makes a vast difference in the day's achievement. Collectively, a whole community could thus advance, reaching out for more and more good by expressing more good and by making less of trials and hardships. As we willingly make the maximum effort to receive and act on spiritual intuition alone, we work scientifically for the health and redemption of all mankind.

At all times and in all conditions we have the presence of the infinite One, that is, of good alone. To know this with conviction makes all good possible of achievement. We can think with the Psalmist gladly, "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." ^{Ps. 118:24;}

Christian Science carries responsive thinkers far beyond the old adage of "well begun is half done." It teaches us that one cannot go wrong if he begins well and presses on in well-doing. Mrs. Eddy puts this clearly in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany": "To begin rightly enables one to end rightly, and thus it is that one achieves the Science of Life, demonstrates health, holiness, and immortality." ^{My., p. 274.}