Article January 9, 1909 Issue

WHAT IS HUMILITY?

MILTON B. MARKS.

It was no less than Christ Jesus who said, "Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God." That humility, in the true meaning of the Scriptures, is an essential in human progress toward salvation, there can be no doubt. To gain humility in the scientific sense involves the setting aside of "even the most cherished beliefs and practices, to leave all for Christ" (Science and Health, p. 141). Nothing can be more profitable, in a spiritual sense, than to realize the vital practicality of Jesus' teaching, when he said, "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth;" learning, in his endeavor to enter into the kingdom, how that "with men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." The apostle James says, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." The meekness of Jesus penetrated the veil of materiality "that is spread over all nations," so that the power made manifest was in fact none other than the "finger of God" casting out evils. What a rebuke is this thought to the suppositional opposite of Christly meekness,—humility on a material basis! The latter would humble us before the so-called powers of sin, disease, and death, or make us subservient to a false sense of good which is the antipode of Spirit, the flesh, thus delivering the mortal to his tormentor, self-righteousness. Is it not apparent, then, that the "finger of God," the power of Spirit to heal men scientifically of sin and its effects, cannot appear in any counterfeit of humility, in any hypocrisy of matter, in the belief that spiritual power is in any sense within material boundaries?

When we arrive at the unselfed love which our Leader teaches, we shall find it to be identical with the humility of Jesus,—that effacement of self and of material belief which permits the power of Spirit to be manifest over all the works of the devil,—and we shall thus be able to claim the reward given "to him that overcometh." True humility may be said to be the gateway to harmony, attained through obedience to Principle in the original purity of its revelation, and obedience involves both a meek and earnest study of how to be obedient and an extreme and detailed watchfulness against every subtle temptation to exalt self. To understand how to be obedient, how to watch, is learned from the Science of Mind, contained in the Scriptures, exemplified in the life of Christ Jesus, and interpreted for our benefit in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy. It would be vain to claim dominion "over all the earth," if this did not first involve the dominion of divine Love over self,—exemplify the dominion of Christ and the universal manifestation of "glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

It is early seen that the higher one climbs in the straight and narrow way the more subtle are the suggestions of material sense. Evil's most plausible proposal came to Jesus after the forty days of prayer and fasting in the wilderness, when he had come nearer than ever to the perfect demonstration of the power of Spirit over matter. But Jesus rebuked the request that he command the stones to be made bread, thus stripping matter of its false claim to be substance or of contributing to the demonstration of life eternal. No one realizes as does the Christian Scientist the deceit of the material senses, how they are ever ready to clamor for the credit of Spirit's demonstrations. He that would comprehend what is meant by dominion "over all the earth" must contemplate through the lens of scientific humility the absolute dominion of Christ, Truth. Progress must reveal to each one of us that, however many degrees or beliefs of material density there may seem to be, there can be but one true understanding of divine Science, and he that has it reflects the Mind "which was also in Christ Jesus." The psalmist says of God, "His understanding is infinite."

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