Humility—the first step
There's more to humility than outward meekness. Humility, at root, has to do with our relationship to God and how we approach Him.
In order to succeed in any endeavor, the first step you take must be placed on a firm footing. Failing to do so, you may be forced to retrace your steps later in order to gain the solid base needed to reach your goal. This same requirement holds true in gaining an understanding of the Science of Christ.
"Experience shows that humility is the first step in Christian Science, wherein all is controlled, not by man or laws material, but by wisdom, Truth, and Love," Miscellaneous Writings, p. 354. writes Mrs. Eddy. Humility is generally associated with one's not being haughty or egotistical. But as used here, the term has a more encompassing meaning. It means a spirit of submission to God, a willingness to give up the belief of a personal mortal mind and to acknowledge the fact that there is but one Mind, God.
The greatest example of humility is seen in the life of Christ Jesus. Humility epitomized the life of our Master. His consciousness, fully imbued with the Christ, was permeated with humility. As the humble Son of God, he refused to take personal credit for the healing works and wonders he performed. He always gave God the credit. Once when he was addressed as "good Master," he replied: "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God." Mark 10:17, 18.
Since this spiritual sense of humility was essential in enabling our Master to achieve his unparalleled accomplishments, can we do less than take the same "first step" of recognizing God as the source of all good in our endeavor to progressively understand and demonstrate Christian Science? In Miscellaneous Writings Mrs. Eddy writes: "Humility is lens and prism to the understanding of Mind-healing; it must be had to understand our textbook; it is indispensable to personal growth, and points out the chart of its divine Principle and rule of practice." And further, on the same page, "Cherish humility, 'watch,' and 'pray without ceasing,' or you will miss the way of Truth and Love." Mis., p. 356.
The gaining of spiritual-mindedness requires the deepest humility.
Christian Science recognizes man as God's image and likeness and therefore wholly spiritual. Contrastingly, in Christian Science, mortal mind—the mind of mortals—is described in part as "a belief that life, substance, and intelligence are in and of matter; the opposite of Spirit, and therefore the opposite of God, or good...." Science and Health, p. 592.
It is this belief of a mortal mind, separate from God, the one Mind, that we must put off in order to progress spiritually. The Apostle Paul made it clear, in his statement in Romans, why this must be accomplished: "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God." Rom. 8:6, 7. The gaining of spiritual-mindedness requires the deepest humility, a letting go of our belief in a personal mortal mind.
The resistance to spiritual growth that people experience emanates from mortal mind. This so-called mind is perpetually suggesting that we are separate from the one Mind. Its suggestion comes in the subtle form of our own thought. It suggests, for example, that social life and the accumulation of wealth are more important and desirable than spiritual growth. The belief in a mind apart from God resists the awakening from the dream of life and pleasure in matter—it resists its own destruction. To awake from this mesmeric dream one has to become humbly desirous of overcoming the belief that one has a mind or a life of his own separate from God. The process of achieving this higher sense of humility is a day-by-day, moment-by-moment, spiritually mental activity. Love must replace hate, honesty must replace deception, Christly care for others must replace apathy and indifference. This activity is the giving up of materialistic thinking—the replacing of mortal thought with its spiritual opposite. It is the awakening to the truth of our individual spiritual being. The proof of this awakening is the healing of sin and sickness in our own lives and the lives of others—through spiritual means alone.
Humility is "the first step" that enables us to rise in the power of Spirit to heal ourselves and others.
Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Psalms 24:3–5
