Article September 24, 2018 Issue

A lesson in true humility

Susan Booth Mack Snipes

Learning about humility is a life’s work, all right! But one of the most important points I’ve learned on the topic is that true humility comes as we get any sense of self-importance completely out of the way—and as we understand humility to be a universal quality, not something that belongs to us personally. This realization came to me through the following experience.

I had been asked to give a talk on Christian Science to an audience of several hundred people. The ideas had flowed easily, and I felt well prepared the night before the talk. But I still had a slight feeling of nervousness, so I decided to pray to get rid of all pride and to feel imbued with humility.

True humility comes as we get any sense of self-importance completely out of the way.