Humility

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Currently reading: Triss by Brian Jacques
Most recently watched movie: Bridge to Terebithia
Current favorite quote: "Scarum immediately began sprouting nautical nonsense. 'Belay then, me hearties, an' all that sort o' bilge scuttle. Lower your jolly old main wotsits an' turn that thingeeyo handle. Trim up those sail doodlemidads an' set course for dry land an' boatloads o' scoff, wot!' " -Scarum the Hare, from Triss.
Picture of the day:
Picture explanation: It's a line from one of my poems; I made it for the cover of a book of my writings that I gave to my brother last year.

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I've been thinking a lot about humility lately. It's not really a virtue that is talked too much about. Most people seem to worry more about the virtues of love, peace, joy, patience. These are all very right and good virtues to cultivate, what about humility? In a very good spiritual book I'm reading, Divine Intimacy, it states:

"Humility is the firm bedrock upon which every Christian should build the edifice of his spiritual life."

This is so true! If we are not humble, we cannot enter into a full union with God. For if we have even the tiniest bit of pride, the tiniest bit of self-love, it hinders us from full intimacy with Him. And if we are not in complete union with God, we can't live our life as well as we should.

"God resisteth the proud, but to the humble He giveth grace" -(1 Peter 5: 5)

We need to realize that we can do nothing, absolutely NOTHING, without God. Every breath we take is a gift from God. The slightest move of our finger is a gift from God. Without Him, we truly would be what we were made from: dust. Nothing.
To receive graces, we must lower ourselves and humbly ask God for graces. For did He not say that whoever asks shall receive? (Matthew, ch. 7) Therefore, He will give us what He need. We must accept His graces and let them work in us. We must be humble.

"When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, 'Give your place to this man,' and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, 'My friend, move up to a higher position.' Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." -(Luke 14: 8-11)

An almost exact replica of this story is found in Proverbs:

"Claim no honor in the king's presence, nor occupy the place of great men; For it is better that you be told, 'Come up closer!' than that you be humbled before the prince." (vs. 6-7)

This is not to say that we must humble ourselves with the hope that we will be exalted by doing so. By no means! In fact, that is worse than not being humble at all, because not only is it prideful, it is also false. We must humble ourselves expecting no reward, with the knowledge that we are not worthy receivers of God's gifts. Yet He loves us so much, and for that we must also be humble. If we are then humble, we can return His love.

We should be humble also in our falls. Jesus fell three times under the Cross. But He got right back up and continued on. So also, we should humbly recognize our faults, ask God's forgiveness, and continue on. There is no need to wallow in despair. The steps are simple: to acknowledge our sins, ask forgiveness, and move on; because God not only forgives, He forgets.

"When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the farther they went from me...Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms; I drew them with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks" (Hosea 11: 1-4)

Yet, this is a tall order. It is hard to think of others as better than ourselves, to be silent when others accuse us (even falsely) and acknowledge our faults, to get up again after falling repeatedly, to not let the least bit of pride and selfishness take control over our lives. We can only do it with God's grace, which He gives to us...if we only ask. But when we do so, we will become so much more intimate with God. We will draw so much closer to Him!

God is always with us, to help us. We need to remember that.

"Fear not, beloved, you are safe; take courage and be strong." -(Daniel 10: 19)


Pax,
Limwen