Article June 5, 1915 Issue

Humility

ARTHUR H. LIDDLE

It has been wisely said that the first test of a great man is his humility, but humility has for students of Christian Science a deeper significance than this; it assumes for them a wider and fuller meaning than the world usually gives it. In "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 356) our revered Leader says: "The second stage of mental development is humility. This virtue triumphs over the flesh; it is the genius of Christian Science. One can never go up, until one has gone down in his own esteem." If we look at the early history of Moses, we see in his experiences in Egypt and in the land of Midian how he learned the lesson of humility, and then we read in Numbers, "The man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth;" and later, in Deuteronomy, we are told that "there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and the wonders, which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, ... and in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel." Is not this a striking commentary on a mental attitude which Mrs. Eddy calls "the genius of Christian Science"? Surely it is of great importance to understand in the light of her teachings what humility means.

Humility has to often been regarded as a somewhat doubtful virtue, because it is sometimes seen to be tainted with hypocrisy; but hypocrisy can no more exist where true humility is than can darkness mingle with light. True humility consists in leaning completely on God; it is the surrender of all desire to follow any path but that which divine Love points out. It means to lose all sense of personal responsibility and to realize that all strength, ability, capacity, intelligence is in God alone; it is to have the simple trust of a child, the receptive state of thought which Jesus said was necessary to enter the kingdom of heaven.

We learn in Christian Science that God, infinite Mind, is the only creator; the real man, therefore, as created in God's image, reflects only the one Mind, and can have no mind apart from God; whereas our former concept of man as material, with a separate mind of his own, is simply an illusion, since God is the only intelligence. The so-called human will cannot, therefore, direct man, although it may seem to do so. With this recognition of the powerlessness of the human mind, will, and intellect to guide man rightly, the true idea of humility begins to dawn upon us. We have, to apply Mrs. Eddy's words quoted above, gone down in our own estimation, and thus the allness of God, good, becomes more and more apparent. Daily and hourly we refuse to hearken to the suggestions of mortal mind and turn humbly to listen to the voice of God.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

Humility

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access