Article February 18, 1911 Issue

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND INDIVIDUALITY

CHARLES H. S. KING.

True individuality is always manifest in sincerity, earnestness, and humility. Without these fundamental qualities no one can reach the heights of true greatness and satisfy Jesus' requirements. "Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant." Humility keeps the imagination within bounds. Sincere love for our fellows and earnest zeal for the establishment of good will among men, engender a magnanimity which is perennial and not dependent upon the attainment of personal leadership or glamour. He who has learned this lesson knows that only as he is true to the Christ-idea, the true individuality of man, will he be fitted to take a higher seat and become "ruler over many things." This has been amply proven in history. The greatest men were the most unselfish, and in proportion as they were true to the divine light within them and undeceived by the adulation of personality, have they been love and heeded by the world.

This is illustrated by contrast in the lives of three historic figures who were leaders of their contemporaries, Napoleon. Lincoln, and Jesus, and who are severally consigned to ignominy, grandeur, and glory. Destiny entrusted Napoleon with a wonderful opportunity—to help realize a nation's ideal. No sooner was it in his grasp than he flung it away, and sacrificed not only his adopted nation but an entire continent to his own personal success. He had no principle. What he called the "star" of his destiny was his god. He was the personification of selfish striving, of human will which is not its brother's keeper, and his final downfall was fit reward for the deification of arrogant personality.

Lincoln had an opportunity similar to that of Napoleon, and he embodied a nation's ideals. How different was his conduct from that of Napoleon! Lincoln never thought of his own personal wishes. He had a wonderful vision of the right, and he stood for it with patient courage and with sincerity, earnestness, and humility. It was never his own way that he wanted done, it was always God's way that took precedence in all his great decisions; and today a nation points with gratitude and love to its selfless hero. Lincoln, like all truly great men, "illustrated the grand human capacities of being" (Science and Health, p. 200) bestowed by God. His success cannot be ascribed to personality. It was his noble individuality, seen in his high moral qualities, his sincerity, earnestness, and humility, which achieved Lincoln's success.

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