When Naaman, the captain of the host of the king of Syria, came to the prophet Elisha to seek healing for his leprosy, his pride was apparently greatly hurt because Elisha did not appear before him, but simply sent him the message (II Kings 5:10), "Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean." Naaman angrily refused to have recourse to the simple direction of the prophet until his servants pointed out to him that if the prophet had asked him to do some great thing, he would have done it. Naaman then went and was obedient to the prophet, and he was healed. How like Naaman are some poor mortals today who, when Truth is offered to them, turn aside from it because of spiritual blindness.
Mary Baker Eddy tells us in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 356), "Humility is lens and prism to the understanding of Mind-healing; it must be had to understand our textbook; it is indispensable to personal growth, and points out the chart of its divine Principle and rule of practice." These words show the value Mrs. Eddy places on humility. She realized how vital it is to the progress of the student and to the prosperity of our Cause and how basic it is to all spiritual healing.
Humility is the herald of an understanding of God. It is the harbinger of contentment and peace; it brings that glow of health which spiritual understanding alone can give, because it accepts without question or resistance the fact of God's allness. The earnest student quickly realizes that humility must be gained before any real progress in the understanding and demonstration of Christian Science can be made. His Leader, Mrs. Eddy, tells him that "humility is lens and prism to the understanding of Mind-healing." Through prayer he finds out the nature of true humility, and how he may attain it. He realizes that he must lay aside his preconceived notions and false beliefs regarding God and man and see them through the lens of humility. It is imperative that he accept with childlike simplicity the new and true idea which Christian Science presents to him.
