Humility



"The Mary's" at St. James in Oneonta, NY  Photo by C. Schroeder, 2011, all rights reserved.

 This morning, coming out of the food coop, I noticed a van with some churchy saying on it that talked about how humility comes before honor.  I think that the saying can be true.  But the question of what "humility" means and what "honor" means, would probably make for a lively discussion between me and the originator of the quote on the van. 

In one of Madeliene L'Engle's books, I believe it is Walking on Water, she talks about how failure didn't make her humble.  Success made her humble.  Yes.  It's true.  Finding one's voice, and having that voice heard and honored creates humility.  Perhaps the long struggle to that place helps create character, but success in the truest sense of the word, success when we are living out our purpose in this world, makes us very humble and grateful and joyful.  So I don't necessarily concur with the writer in the first paragraph...was it Solomon?  I think that sometimes honor can fill us with humility. 

Too often "humility" and "humiliation" seem interchangeable to some in this world.  Grinding someone down into the dust, beating them senseless with the message of their worthlessness and uselessness does NOT create someone who is humble.  It creates someone who is afraid and broken and wounded.  And much too often, those who abuse their power are people who really have little to no self worth.  They try to find it in intimidating, abusing, humiliating those who are more vulnerable than they are.  They try to find it in stalking people who are in truth much, much more powerful than they are.  Because even the rapist or the murderer or the child molester and the vileness of those acts against us cannot take away the core that makes us who we are.  That is eternal.  The terrible stuff that happens in life may leave us covered in mud, but it cannot reach the core.  That core is our soul, our spirit and it is infused with holiness, with light, with the Christ!  No one, not the most vile of offenders can destroy that. 

It often takes a lifetime to remember the core of who we are.  But when we do, we have true power, and it is rooted in light and in love.

Humility is about having that true power and using it wisely to encourage and build up, to help others see their worth, even if they don't have an ounce of self respect.  I have a friend like that.  I doubt that she even knows that she does it, or knows the power that she has.  Being with her bouys me up!  Leaves me happier.  It leaves me with a deeper sense of who I really am.  She sees the Christ in me and honors that. 

Well...as the preacher likes to say:  GLOOOOO--RY!!!!

Let's keep shining up the mirrors, the glass, the reflectors that we are, so the glory and the power of that which is eternal is really clear!