Announcer: We see and hear advertisements constantly for everything from automobiles to breakfast foods that promise to make the purchaser feel invincible. It isn't customary to see advertising that promises to make the purchaser feel humble.

Questioner: I guess we're all pretty much aware that the idea of humility isn't very much in style these days. A more aggressive approach seems characteristic of today's living. Why do you think that is?

Speaker: Perhaps people are so preoccupied with what's called "status" that they're often more impressed with the size of things than with the depth of thought. In this atmosphere, the quiet qualities of thought like humility are not fully appreciated. Humility is the door, you might say, through which we glimpse the power and the availability of God, the source of all good. In other words, humility is the means through which we gain a better knowledge of where our good comes from.

Questioner: Isn't there an element of uncertainty about humility?

Speaker: But you know, the navigator follows his instruments, the musician obeys music, and the engineer abides by the underlying laws of engineering. Now they certainly don't lose their effectiveness or their certainty—but they actually gain—by following a higher authority. Doing so removes anxiety, fear, doubt, and worry.

The Bible, time and time again, illustrates that humbly acknowledging God in all things gives us the power we need to bring every worthy endeavor to fruition.

In Proverbs it's expressed this way (3:5, 6): "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

I recall the first Christian Scientist that I knew. He was quite an athlete. Sometimes at school I would hear him say "Thank You," especially when he would win in a game. This intrigued me. I would say, "Well, why did you say that?" He would say, "Oh, never mind." Finally I pinned him down, and I said, "Often I hear you say 'thank you'—why do you do that?" "Well," he said, "I'm thanking God for the ability I'm expressing. And in that way I don't get myself in the way."

We were just high school boys, but I've never forgotten that he recognized that his ability came from God. When he would win a race or a contest, he wasn't selfish about it at all; he had a sense of joy and freedom that gave him ability to do even better the next time. Now that's just as applicable in the business world as it is in sports.

The most successful man that ever lived was Christ Jesus. His life epitomized deepest humility and yet, the greatest achievement. You will recall that he said he was "the Way" for us.

Questioner: Yes, but Jesus wasn't popular by any means. He had to do quite a selling job to get people to accept his way of thinking.

Speaker: Well, I don't like to think of it as a selling job.

Questioner: But didn't he promise them a better way of life? He was going to bring them back to health.

Speaker: He did do those things, didn't he? He did restore health; he even restored the dead to life. How did he do it? Wasn't it through his humility, through his realization of man's relationship to God, through his understanding of God? Surely those things you spoke of took place in his time. But it was more than just a selling job. He showed us what we should do and how to do it for everyone.

Questioner: I think I understand what you're getting at. But what I'm wondering is if it is really practical in this world today. I'm thinking of the salesman that has to meet quotas or a businessman that is facing keen competition or government people dealing with tremendous problems. Can they just rely on this humility and have confidence that the solution to the problems will occur?

Speaker: Let's be sure that we understand what we mean by humility. Humility, again, is the door through which we gain a glimpse of or recognize where good really is and what good really is.

Questioner: In other words, we see the source of our abilities.

Speaker: Yes. Progress is often actually hampered by the false view that we have a personal monopoly on abilities or that our capabilities are separate from God. We're apt to feel that we are doing everything all by ourselves. Then we run out of opportunities and abilities and everything else, when actually, if we would rely on God, we would know what to do and how to do it. Now there's nothing haphazard about that.

The Apostle Peter gave instruction that we can all follow and be benefited thereby. He states (I Pet. 5:6, 7): "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him: for he careth for you."

Questioner: But does a manufacturer pray to find the right decision, the right opportunity?

Speaker: He certainly should look to God for the unfoldment of how he can best serve. Humility—that is, looking to God—will give him better decisions, clearer decisions; there'll be less hesitation about it. He'll have a sense of surety, because he is motivated by first looking to God for his guidance.

Questioner: How do we go about looking to God for guidance?

Speaker: One way to begin is by acknowledging in our hearts that God is the one perfect Mind, the supreme intelligence, which man in God's likeness expresses. The more we prayerfully acknowledge our relationship to God—that is, consciously realize this relationship, acknowledge that man is His spiritual expression, and work and pray to let that Mind be in us which was also in Christ Jesus—the more we discover the power of humility. Then we learn that God cares for us and directs us in all our ways. We learn to let go of mere human planning and outlining which leaves God clear out of the picture and to be willing to let God's will and not ours be done.

In "Miscellaneous Writings," Mary Baker Eddy writes (p. 358): "Human pride is human weakness. Self-knowledge, humility, and love are divine strength."

That's where the power is—in God, not in ourselves. As we realize that our true selfhood is the very expression of divine Mind, we can claim every moment, in every situation, our God-given intelligence, alertness, acuteness, and perception, so that we are equipped to do what needs to be done.

Questioner: Then, what you're saying is that humility is really a power in our lives?

Speaker: Yes, it is. When we're willing to submit our thoughts, motives, and decisions to the government of divine Mind, we come into accord with God's law of harmony, God's law of good. And this relieves us of the burden that comes from a false sense of responsibility, from thinking that we must do it all by ourselves.

Questioner: That it's all on my back, in other words.

Speaker: Often that's the way we feel unless we turn the whole situation over to God. As we do this, uncertainty is eliminated, and tension too, and this brings a sense of calmness, poise, and stability.

As we listen for and humbly follow God's direction, we find our lives enriched, our capacities expanded, and greater opportunities for service and fulfillment.