Promptness and punctuality express loving consideration for others. From those who knew and worked with Mary Baker Eddy we learn that she was unfailingly considerate of the welfare and comfort of others. Promptness and punctuality are two qualities often mentioned by her authorized biographers.
Much tardiness stems from procrastination. It is a weakness of human nature to put off necessary tasks until a more convenient time, and the unpleasant consequences that accrue from this practice are legion. In an effort to counterbalance the bad effects human beings resort to rationalizing, sometimes becoming artists at excusing lateness and justifying it. In the book "We Knew Mary Baker Eddy," First Series, we read (p. 13): "Mrs. Eddy was very methodical, very orderly about everything. She never procrastinated. She never put off till tomorrow the work she could do today. She did it now, and expected her followers to do the same."
Sometimes healings are delayed because of continued indulgence in habitual lateness. Human beings enter church late. They pay their bills late. They are late for appointments. Their children have a record of tardiness at school. Yet these same people expect God to be prompt in fulfilling His promises. They cry out in their distress like the Psalmist (Ps. 40:17), "I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God."
