Article June 24, 2019 Issue

Voting for humility

Rosalie E. Dunbar

A version of this article was published in The Christian Science Monitor’s Christian Science Perspective column, March 19, 2019.

Last year I volunteered in a campaign for someone running for office at the state level. As I worked with the other, more experienced volunteers, I was impressed by their humility in talking to voters—really wanting to hear what people felt. And although the candidate didn’t win the primary election, she was gracious in defeat.

To me, she was exhibiting strength in the face of disappointment after such hard work. But it also showed me how to cherish humility in terms of my own attitude toward the candidates who ultimately ran for office. Moving forward, I found myself listening less for speeches that emphasized personal will or personality and paying more attention to promises of a willingness to work with others and to learn how to do a good job—for us, the people.

As candidates begin to jockey for a place in the next presidential election in the United States, I’ve been thinking about the qualities that I would hope for in the individuals representing my community in local and national government. For me, humility is a key one.

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