In a short paragraph beginning on page 1 of "Miscellaneous Writings," Mary Baker Eddy points out the blessings which accrue from the qualities of humility, meekness, and goodness. She writes as follows:

"Humility is the stepping-stone to a higher recognition of Deity. The mounting sense gathers fresh forms and strange fire from the ashes of dissolving self, and drops the world. Meekness heightens immortal attributes only by removing the dust that dims them. Goodness reveals another scene and another self seemingly rolled up in shades, but brought to light by the evolutions of advancing thought, whereby we discern the power of Truth and Love to heal the sick."

The material sense of self starts to dissolve as soon as one begins earnestly to study and apply Christian Science. It follows, therefore, as simple logic, that mortal selfhood, which consists entirely of false beliefs, disappears proportionally as these beliefs are destroyed by the recognition of the truth of being.

If to the new or even more advanced student Christian Science seems difficult to understand, it may be that the essential necessity of progressively purifying thought of all materiality has not yet been seen. Jesus' words (Matt. 5:8). "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God," become clearer as thought is more spiritually prepared to discern a higher meaning. Humility, meekness, and goodness are indispensable to spiritual progress. As these qualities are expressed, the Christ appears more clearly to human recognition, changing one's viewpoint and bringing healing and happiness through regeneration.

Webster defines "humility" in part as "freedom from pride and arrogance," and "humble" as "not proud or assertive in spirit, manner, or seeming." The truly humble man never tries to draw attention to himself or cares to occupy the center of the stage. He is wholly willing to let his human life be adjusted and governed by divine intelligence. As God is admitted to be the only power, humility subdues the human intellect, and cultivates that childlike receptivity which shortens the way to "a higher recognition of Deity." Humility cannot be acquired through human effort alone, but results naturally from spiritualization of thought. "Fresh forms and strange fire," growing evidence of the divine presence, increasingly reveal the might and attraction of Spirit, illustrate the frailty of mortal selfhood, and thus bring about the destruction of pride and egotism.

If one would grow in humility, it is necessary to keep uppermost in thought the Master's declaration (John 14:10), "The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." Because he acknowledged God to be the only Ego, Jesus' power was unlimited. Humility frees one from the tension and self-consciousness arising from the belief in a selfhood apart from God. dependent on resources of its own. Humility is essential to the success of any right endeavor, because it acknowledges at the outset the supremacy and guidance of divine Mind. Following faithfully the leadership of God. the man who is truly humble becomes a leader among men. Real power and attraction do not inhere in mortal personality, but they are attributes of divine Love, and are manifested only through humility.

According to Webster, "meek" means "mild of temper; not easily provoked or irritated; patient under injuries." Strong qualities indeed! "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city" (Prov. 16:32). It is easy to understand why Moses is considered an example of meekness when we remember how many times during the Exodus he must have been tempted to become impatient with the children of Israel. Yet this very meekness saved them, for without his remarkable self-control, gained from complete trust in God, Moses could not have come victoriously through the wilderness experiences. Unfortunately, meekness is often associated with weakness, whereas its real meaning is just the opposite.

Christian Science has brought to mankind the great fact of the present and eternal perfection of man and the universe. The recognition of this fact and the blessings flowing from it are ours, however, only as we are willing to overcome the beliefs of the flesh. Mortals love to cling to the counterfeit, of which the counterfact is the only reality. So vague and nebulous seems the spiritual reality to material sense that in times of material sufficiency and happiness men are not always willing to strive for its attainment. But when material joys fade, and personal sense is bereft of its idols, they turn willingly, often desperately, to embrace that which alone is real and satisfying. Here meekness is needed—the patience and calm acceptance of good which bring to light the "immortal attributes." The insistence with which the word "let" is used in the first chapter of Genesis grows in significance as one comprehends more clearly the allness and might of divine Mind. It is as if we were earnestly being implored to abandon false concepts and let the true concept of everything be, to us, the only reality.

"Another scene and another self" are already present, and are "brought to light by the evolutions of advancing thought" as we, through overcoming, ratify our oneness with God. If mortals age and grow weary, it is because human thought is not kept sufficiently refreshed by more steadfast communion with Soul, the source of bliss and freshness. Only the cultivated acceptance and utilization of spiritual ideas can dissolve the tiresome round of material routine and reveal real being as divine unfoldment.

Unfolding good dulls the edge of personal sense. It supplants material joys with the growing satisfaction of conscious worth. Phases of material existence, the continuation of which may have seemed indispensable to harmonious living, diminish in attraction and desirability as mortality recedes towards its native nothingness before the spiritual sense of being.

Referring to the fact that Christ Jesus knew God to be All-in-all. Mrs. Eddy writes in "No and Yes" (p. 36), "Hence the human Jesus had a resort to his higher self and relation to the Father, and there could find rest from unreal trials in the conscious reality and royalty of his being,—holding the mortal as unreal, and the divine as real." And so we find rest and recuperation and renewed interest as we continue to enrich and spiritualize present experience with deep draughts from the fountain of Soul.