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FLORENCE E. B. DONALDSON
We are told of this "captain of the host of the king of Syria," that he was a great man and honorable, but that he was a leper. A little captive Hebrew maid spoke of the power of God to heal. In loving compassion, and with childhood's faith, she declared that Elisha, the prophet of God, would certainly cure the afflicted man were he present. As a result of this statement Naaman, armed with his king's letter to the king of Israel, set out in quest of healing, not only with hope and confidence and a large retinue, but with most royal presents to give in return for the good he anticipated. The king of Israel saw nothing but disaster in the message brought to him; but Elisha the prophet, hearing of the man who had come so far to seek help, directed that he should be sent on to him. And Naaman came in his pomp and splendor, and stood before the house of Elisha. The unexpected happened. Elisha sent a message by his servant to the effect that the famous warrior should dip seven times in the river Jordan, and that then he would be clean. The development of the story shows that the prophet, through spiritual insight, had read aright the traits of pride and arrogancy, and knew that they must first be wholly cleansed from thought in order that the healing might be accomplished. Naaman's struggle was severe, but loving counsel was at hand; and good triumphed over evil. He dipped — or in other words, humbled himself — not once but seven times, in obedient response to the demand of God, through His prophet, to wash and be clean. Then the man was changed. To the large-heartedness and spontaneous generosity, to the readiness to believe in good, which had made him hasten to seek the blessings of Truth, there was added a deep humility which bowed in grateful acknowledgment before the divine power which had healed him. He promised wholehearted devotion to the one God, from whose service he would never stray; and the man who had rendered faithful service to his king knew what allegiance to this newfound God would mean. The once haughty commander of men, when he had learned that there was only one true God in all the earth, touchingly craved pardon for the times when his human sense of duty to his master had made him do honor to a false god. In the light of Christian Science we see how necessarily the lesson of Naaman the Syrian, and his self-surrender, must be learned by each one of us before we can see God aright through reflected purity and love. Our Leader says of humility, in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 356), "This virtue triumphs over the flesh; it is the genius of Christian Science." Earnest students of Mrs. Eddy's teachings have found the need for genuine "humbleness of mind," expressed not once or twice, but in continuity of self-abnegation, in the search for divine guidance. Happy are those who are striving faithfully to gain this essential characteristic of the mind of Christ. It is through those workers in the great field of Christian Science who, living in constant, loving obedience and joyous selflessness, let their light shine to the glory of God, that the growing recognition of the great spiritual truth of man created in God's image and likeness will become more and more apparent as the force that must revolutionize the world. Moses, the Hebrew lawgiver, and Daniel, the Hebrew captive who became the ruler of Babylon, both preeminently servants of God, demonstrated the highest and purest form of humility, the unquestioning surrender of self to God. Both accomplished great deeds, and shone as beacon lights in the world; and to both was accorded the vision of the coming Messiah. Of Daniel we read that after a long career of unswerving fidelity to the service of the one God, although surrounded by every aggressive suggestion of heathen idolatry, he continued in daily prayer and in fasting from the false beliefs of material sense, until that message of Love came to him which is a constant incentive to good to each one of us: "From the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard." Many years ago the writer, then a beginner in Christian Science, asked a student of Mrs. Eddy, who had known our Leader well, what she considered the most striking characteristic of the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. She replied at once: Humility. The followers of Mrs. Eddy have repeatedly echoed this reply and will continue to do so; for only one who was very near to God, and seeking humbly to gain a higher understanding of His commands, could have accomplished so great a lifework as hers. In the Scriptural record of the Hebrew lawgiver's dealings with the people he loved so much, and whom he led safely out of Egypt to the threshold of the promised land, we read that each order given them came "as the Lord commanded Moses." In striving to demonstrate true humility we have to remember that to be humble, or free from pride and arrogance, is in no sense to manifest self-depreciation, diffidence, or self-distrust. In a dictionary we find the following illustration: "The humility of our Savior was perfect, and yet he had a true sense of his own greatness." When Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, he said plainly: "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am." And in his exhortation to them to follow his example, he showed that the true basis for humility is the knowledge of the allness of God, divine Principle, and that to serve Him rightly is the road to happiness. With this understanding we shall be willing to accept a lower place than might seem to be our due. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul claimed that he was among the chiefest apostles; and, in the Acts, he speaks of serving the Lord with humility. That these both were undoubtedly true of the great organizer of the early Christian church, we know from the priceless records of his teachings; but he was constantly striving to keep the church free from barren materiality and vain traffic in Jewish ritual, and pure and uncontaminated by human opinions and idolatry. The simple fervor of the Christians, however, soon suffered violence. The passing centuries have stereotyped many false beliefs in creed and dogma. In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 142) Mrs. Eddy writes, "As in Jesus' time, so to-day, tyranny and pride need to be whipped out of the temple, and humility and divine Science to be welcomed in." With experience of the past and clearer insight into the divine law, our Leader hedged about the Church of Christ, Scientist, with wise forethought and loving protection; but "humility and divine Science" cannot be dispensed with in the building of this church. May each purifying process bring us more closely into truer humility, and a fuller obedience to the By-laws of the Manual of The Mother Church, proved to be so necessary to the progress of Christian Science. With a growing comprehension of what humility stands for, Christian characteristics will continue to be manifested in new forms and in unexpected quarters. Educational organizations, social and political circles, religious bodies of all sects and creeds, will feel the working of the leaven of Truth. Tender shoots give promise of vigorous growth. The more rampant error becomes, forcing itself into prominent view, the more calmly confident of good will those become who are seeking with growing "humbleness of mind" to demonstrate unity with divine Principle, and so to prove the allness of God.
Christian Science Sentinel, March 18 , 1922 |
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