And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure.
Sixth tenet of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 497
Promises are made to be kept. The real ones, that is. There can be big promises and little promises, but for any of them to be real means you really intend to keep them. However, sometimes a promise is so big, so wide-ranging, that even when you make it you wonder whether you have the character or the discipline to live up to it. But the very desire to make this important promise is a strength in itself, and those who make it honestly and take it seriously find themselves linked to its wonderful potential. Opening up to this dynamic promise and its possibilities is exciting. Whether this tenet already glows with familiarity, or is just coming into view as a new idea for you, it can bring the love of Christ to hearts and minds, lives and relationships, homes and even nations, in ways that transform and heal. So we can embrace it with confidence, and make it our own.
Spiritual watching is the first element of the promise, and embraces the whole tenet. Jesus instructed his disciples, “What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch” (Mark 13:37). And Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth, “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong” (I Cor. 16:13). A hallmark of maturity in a Christian was to understand the need for mental and spiritual vigilance—not to be naive about mental forces that appear to be arrayed against the light of Christ, but to develop the alertness that exposed and overcame them.
