Humility

We work in an area that really depends on other people. I think most people work this way, but it is recognizable in our area because if tables are not set up, registration is not ready, tickets are not sold, AV is not ready to go, and food is not cooked, we fail. We cannot do all the work ourselves — we need the help of others. That should be humbling, which is not a negative realization — it can actually be a freeing realization. This is humility on a larger scale.

But what about our individual humility?

Recently, this reading was part of my daily scripture readings:
My child, conduct your affairs with humility,and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts.Humble yourself the more, the greater you are,and you will find favor with God.What is too sublime for you, seek not,into things beyond your strength search not.

[OPTIONAL BIBLE LESSON: This is from the Book of Sirach 3:17-18, 21. If your bible knowledge is good, the Protestants in our group are asking, what is the Book of Sirach? The book is called a deuterocanonical text since it is one of seven books in the Old Testament that the Catholic and Orthodox churches recognize, but Protestants do not. Some Protestant bibles put these books in a section called the  Apocrypha.]

Notice what Sirach teaches: “What is too sublime for you/seek not/into things beyond your strength, search not.” This is telling us that, like it or not, we all have limits.  

It is not a lesson we are encouraged to embrace. We live in a society that pushes us to be self-sufficient. I have a relative that likes to talk about needing more “me time” to figure out her life which does not leave room for the humbling thought that “me” may not have all the answers. And people like to quote my great-great-great-etc Uncle Ralph Waldo who says in his famous essay on Self-Reliance:  “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” Uncle Ralph gets quoted a lot but he really had a warped sense of Christianity and a very high opinion of humans.

So instead of following what culture teaches us, maybe we can reflect on what our faith teaches us. Am I humble enough to acknowledge the limitations I may have and seek the help of others? Are there things that I can do but that others can do better? The Book of Sirach falls under the genre of “Wisdom Books” in the Old Testament, so perhaps we’ll all be a bit wiser for the thinking!

In the end, our faith depends on humility. No matter how hard we try, we cannot save ourselves. We are dependent on Christ’s saving grace, which cannot be earned — we have to be humble enough to accept it.
This week, reflect on what your limitations are, not to humiliate yourself, but to humble yourself.