It is sometimes said that humility is the most elusive Christian virtue, for to be truly humble one must be unaware of being so. In his autobiography Benjamin Franklin quaintly shows the elusiveness of this virtue. He tells of writing down a list of moral qualities he desired to possess and of examining his conduct daily to see if he was succeeding in his expression of them. He was told by a Quaker friend that he lacked humility; so he added it to his list. But Franklin never felt that he acquired the reality of this virtue. He found pride hard to put down, and he came to the conclusion that if he could conceive of overcoming it, he would probably be proud of his humility!
Christian Science bases the attainment of true humility upon the demonstration of the spiritual fact concerning it. This Science reveals God as infinite, divine Spirit, and man as the perpetual reflection, or emanation, of Spirit. Reflection implies something derived, and that which is derived has no creative ability of its own. It is simply what its Principle makes it. This is true of man, who is not a mind, but the idea of the one Mind, God. Furthermore, man has no will of his own, but reflects the perfect will of God.
Man is defined in part by Mary Baker Eddy as "that which possesses no life, intelligence, nor creative power of his own, but reflects spiritually all that belongs to his Maker" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 475). Here we have a true and sublime exposition of scientific humility, and one who understands it thus in Science does not find humility elusive. He is able to meet the requirement of God for humility by giving up the belief of being a mortal, of possessing a private mind, of expressing a personal will, and of being capable of living a life apart from the one source of life, divine Principle.
