"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.
A student of Christian Science, her thought greatly lifted by attendance at her annual association meeting, decided to pray for increased conscientiousness in watching the quality of her daily thinking. She felt a great desire to tip the scale of her thinking and speaking on the side of God, good. Becoming thus keenly aware of her stream of thoughts, she was amazed at the proportion of each day spent in idle, materialistic, speculative, unfruitful human thinking.
Realizing that the power of the one Mind, God, was present to aid her in thinking spiritually, and not materially, she began "scrupulous, often painstaking," observance of her duty of watching her thought. The wasteful thoughts which had occupied her during common household tasks were replaced with thoughts of God and of His true nature. The temptation to think of mortals and their idiosyncrasies was gradually replaced with the contemplation of the one great Parent, God, and His perfect sons and daughters.
Engaging in such true thinking has far-reaching results, as every conscientious Christian Scientist can testify. The individual mentioned above rejoiced in a great influx of peace, joy, satisfaction, and freedom, all of which were in direct proportion to her abandonment of the futility and frustration of mortal thinking. Moreover, in a very short while a circumstance worked out, easily and naturally, which meant amazingly increased freedom in her daily routines, as well as much more time for the study of Christian Science. All the individuals involved have been correspondingly blessed, and this evidence of God's goodness has continued for many months. Her ability to meet and instantly reject the suggestion of disease, especially in its early stages, was greatly enhanced as her thought turned more easily and naturally to God. Healings of every description inevitably follow the tipping of the scale of one's thinking in the right direction.
Real conscientiousness is rewarded by the appearing of more and more opportunities to apply such spiritually enlightened thought. For example, false advertising, in all its subtle phases, is more quickly discerned and reversed. Subtle suggestions of age, ugliness, heredity, weariness, depletion, decay, are instantly detected and replaced by the truth that man, God's idea, is eternal, upright, free. And how gloriously liberating and challenging is the realization that fear in any phase needs only to be met and overcome, this minute, in the only place it has any claim to power, namely, in one's own thinking.
One's exercise of God-given dominion over the important realm of his thinking leads to poise, exactness, inspiration, decisiveness and the consequent abandonment of wasteful indecision and arbitrary limitations of schooling, talent, or heredity; thought is constant, and the opportunities for expressing God in this fundamental realm are endless. The understanding of God and His universe demonstrates true substance, true supply, true health, true home. Mortal thinking brings about opposite results. Who would hesitate in his choice?
Jesus, in speaking to his disciples of the kingdom of heaven, said (Matt. 13:45, 46): "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it." We have found in the practical, revealing light which Christian Science throws upon the teachings of Jesus the one pearl to be valued above all others. Must we not be conscientious in selling false, binding beliefs, so that we too may buy, may achieve, this kingdom of heaven within the individual consciousness of every one of us?
Paul was advocating the exercise of true conscientiousness when he wrote, "Do your utmost to let God see that you at least are a sound workman, with no need to be ashamed of the way you handle the word of the Truth" (II Tim. 2:15, Moffatt's translation). And in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy assures us that the reward of conscientious laying hold of the Word of God is certain (p. 261): "Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts."
