"Conscientious implies scrupulous, often painstaking, observance of duty," says a dictionary. Mary Baker Eddy has this to say on the subject of conscientiousness in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 340): "The conscientious are successful. They follow faithfully; through evil or through good report, they work on to the achievement of good; by patience, they inherit the promise. Be active, and, however slow, thy success is sure: toil is triumph; and—thou hast been faithful over a few things."
Conscientiousness as a human quality often implies tension, strain, a drab fulfillment of duty. But in its true sense, conscientiousness is a most essential quality to bring to bear upon the study of Christian Science. As Mrs. Eddy reveals in the quotation given above, the genuinely conscientious are faithful, patient, active, and their ultimate attainment is inevitable success and triumph. They are continuous in their pursuit of demonstrating good and are not turned aside by the aggressive suggestions of evil and failure. Conscientiousness, thus conceived, is a dynamic, useful quality, earnestly to be sought and used.
"Christian Scientists hold as a vital point that the beliefs of mortals tip the scale of being, morally and physically, either in the right or in the wrong direction. Therefore a Christian Scientist never mentally or audibly takes the side of sin, disease, or death," writes Mrs. Eddy in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 146); and in the same paragraph she states, "He lays his whole weight of thought, tongue, and pen in the divine scale of being—for health and holiness." Reading these words by our beloved Leader, the student of Christian Science may well ask himself, "Am I throwing the greater share of my daily thinking in the scale of good?" Indeed, Mrs. Eddy tells us to lay the whole weight of our thinking, speaking, and writing on the side of God.
