Much emphasis is placed today on personal power and self-importance. The belief that men can think and act under their own authority is prevalent on the college campus. Many students and teachers who set out earnestly to discover their capabilities and to use them turn to material theories for help and are perplexed when these are found to be unreliable.

Christian Science holds the practical and ever-available solution to the questions: "Who are we?" and, "What are we capable of doing?" It starts with the premise that God is All, infinite good, and that man is His perfect expression. As this expression, man reflects all the attributes of Spirit and is intelligent, loving, joyful, and active.

In studying Christian Science, we learn that since we are actually spiritual ideas, we are inseparable from our creator. There is nothing boastful in this statement; in fact, it takes genuine humility to understand and prove it. Christ Jesus, during his glorious career, was so fully conscious of his unity, or oneness, with Mind, that he could say in complete trust: "I can of mine own self do nothing" (John 5: 30); and, "The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works" (John 14:10).

In humility, which actually comes from the recognition of our true spiritual selfhood as God's reflection, we find strength instead of weakness, supply instead of lack. Self-imposed human limitations vanish into nothingness and our real abilities are seen when we admit Mind's allness and see finite beliefs as having no power or actuality. We learn to be good listeners to Truth and are led to make wise decisions, which bless all.

A clearer view of the need for humility was gained by the writer recently while working for the Christian Science organization at her university. For several weeks she had been carrying on correspondence concerning plans for an activity which would affect many students in the organization as well as the whole campus community. One evening, when everything seemed ideally arranged, she was informed that the plans she had made were based on an entirely false assumption and that the dates and people involved in this activity conflicted.

The world seemed very black as she put down the telephone. Realizing that she had failed to listen to God's directing and had plunged forward willfully and unintelligently, she humbly asked for guidance. As she opened to page 356 of "Miscellaneous his Writings" by Mrs. Eddy, the sentence, "One can never go up, until one has gone down in his own esteem," struck her with great force.

Instantly she saw the human errors of self-satisfaction, reliance on human judgment, and the desire to impress others with her efficiency—all of which had blinded her to Mind's direction. She immediately and firmly declared that she would rejoice in the knowledge that many false beliefs would be rooted out of her consciousness during this seemingly difficult time and that this could only be an opportunity for growth.

Affirming that God is Spirit, she saw that the claims of mortal mind, which were all that could suffer, could not attach themselves to her spiritual being. Nothing could prevent her from expressing Mind perfectly and joyfully at all times; and mere human planning on a materially personal basis, which is always doomed to failure, could not be attractive.

After a short prayerful time, a wonderful sense of peace replaced the turmoil in her thinking, and the solution to the problem unfolded quickly. The selfish desire for material recognition had been completely erased, and in its place stood only the desire to know and to do God's will.

One may find himself riding along smoothly on the road of self-satisfaction which originates in the belief that one contains within himself the power to act. The ride may seem pleasanter and easier than traveling on the sometimes rugged road of self-examination and self-denial which leads to spiritual progress; but the former is a temporary one and is bound to have pitfalls along the way.

Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health (p. 8), "We should examine ourselves and learn what is the affection and purpose of the heart, for in this way only can we learn what we honestly are." What better place than college to "learn what we honestly are," to relinquish the error that would hind our thoughts and actions to the material, and to realize in deep humility our at-one-ment with God!

Whether our desire is to serve a group well, to demonstrate intelligence and poise, or to be successful socially, we can claim our immunity from mortal blunders, which would cause confusion and discouragement, if we realize that our Mind, the only Mind, God, does not cause mistakes or inharmony of any kind but knows only perfection. Our lives will then be consistently productive and happy because we shall understand and demonstrate more fully our Leader's counsel (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 117), "Be sure that God directs your way; then, hasten to follow under every circumstance."