"Are you going to watch the re-do of "Jesus Christ, Superstar" a friend of ours asked me the other day. I didn't because the concept of Jesus acting like a star is the very opposite of the way he lived his life. Whether this was the intent of the producer or not, it didn't appeal to me in the slightest.
Jesus seemed to me to be always hiding himself, never trying to be a star. And his words, "I can do nothing of myself" says it all. Someone said to me years ago, this statement of Jesus is the epitome of humility. I've thought of this many times and realized, if our Exemplar couldn't do anything of himself, then the rest of us certainly cannot.
And Mary Baker Eddy has in her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures this statement I've found very instructive, something to strive to live by. Referring to Jesus, she wrote: "He claimed no intelligence, action, nor life separate from God." (page 136) To acknowledge our heavenly Father as the source of all we do, to realize that God is actually the doer leads to more productivity in our daily lives I am finding, more actions that bless others.
And on the subject of humility, Albert Schweitzer has a beautiful essay which he ends by saying: "L'humilite est la gloire de toutes les vertus. Humility is the glory of all the virtues, in English.
When my husband was serving in the Army in Seoul, Korea, I did secretarial work for a Ph.D from Penn State who was in Seoul doing research for the Department of Defense. I happened to mention a book by Schweitzer I found inspiring. Dr. Clauser asked me one day, "How is it you admire someone like Schweitzer when you're a Christian Scientist?" Of course, as I told him, I am not against doctors in any way, do not look down on those who rely on the medical profession and find it meets their needs. It's just that Christian Science does for me all I could wish, and more.
But back to humility, to think we have in Christ Jesus someone totally selfless, totally devoted to seeing that God was glorified. A shining example of this virtue--the epitome of humility.
