It's Hard to be Humble

“Humility is, when the other person is at fault, for us to do a bow to him saying, ‘Forgive me, my brother, I am sorry!’ before he has time to seek forgiveness. This should not seem difficult and burdensome to you. It is nothing in comparison to what Christ the Master did for us. Before the angels He stooped down and did a bow from heaven to earth; ‘He bowed the heavens and came down’ (Ps. 17:9) – God to men! Whereas you turn the world upside-down so that you don’t say one ‘sorry’! So then, where is your humility? When you humble yourself, everyone will seem saintly to you; when you are proud, everyone will seem bothersome and bad.

~Elder Joseph the Hesychast

Thanks to Christ in our Midst

Self-fulfillment vs Self-sacrifice

We live in a world with a self-fulfillment mentality, and an unfulfilled life is a wasted life, or at least a tragedy. All of us fall into the trap of this thinking, and I say trap because this is NOT Christian thinking. I see the miseries of this thinking in elderly people who feel that their debilitated condition has rendered them useless, unwanted, unneeded, and a burden: in middle aged people who feel that their lives are slipping away from them and they have not been able to fulfill their dreams in meaningful ways; in young people who selfishly pursue their interests with disregard, and disrespect of those around them.

The life of Christ, and the saints displayed nothing with regard to any modern notion of self-fulfillment. Indeed just the opposite: self-sacrifice. I like to say, “No life, or act given in selfless love is a waste.” I think of all those people who sacrificed the ‘best’ years of their lives to care for a disabled child, or a bedridden relative. No self-fulfillment there. No self-fulfillment in Jesus going to the cross, or the martyrdom of saints and missionaries of days gone by. No self-fulfillment in loving your enemies or turning the other cheek. No self-fulfillment in giving until it hurts, or being a servant to others. The false dream of self-fulfillment thinking leads to frustration with others who are interfering with our dreams which leads to our impatience, intolerance, bitterness, regret, and despair.

There is much that could be said here but I think we Christians need to transform our own thinking to that of Christ and the ancient witness of the Church. We need to embrace the ways of humility and self-sacrifice. I believe this can only be done with the Spirit of Christ being our daily guide, and through intense, intentional prayer.

Blessed LORD, who putteth down the mighty from their seat and exaltest those of low degree: Save us, we beseech Thee, from pride and vainglory, from self-seeking and false ambition. Give us a humble and contrite spirit, that we may think less of ourselves, more of others, and most of all of Thee, who art our mighty God and Saviour; to whom with Thee and the Holy Spirit we ascribe all praise and glory, now and for evermore. AMEN (A prayer by Frank Colquhoun)

LORD have Mercy, Brian+

C.S. Lewis on Humility

If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed. From Mere Christianity

May God's grace give you the necessary humility. Try not to think - much less, speak - of their sins. One's own are a much more profitable theme! And if on consideration, one can find no faults on one's own side, then cry for mercy: for this must be a most dangerous delusion. From Letters to an American Lady

Not My Ego

I recently came across the following quote as posted on Christ in our Midst!

When you overcome one of the grosser passions, such as gluttony, unchastity, anger, or greed, the thought of self-esteem at once assails you. If you defeat this thought, the thought of pride succeeds it.

~Saint Maximos the Confessor, The Philokalia, Vol. 2, p. 92.

I find that when I honestly plunge the depths of my heart that this struggle of purity exists. Pride (which is egocentric) reveals its ugly head. Pride/Ego wants its way. It is the source of all my conflicts with others, And it is the source of all my self-righteous thoughts (I'm nicer than you, I am smarter than you, I am kinder than you, I am humbler than you, I serve more than you, I am less broken than you, etc, etc.). Pride/Ego is contrary to humility. Christ did not come for himself, he came for us. He did not come to satisfy and patch up the broken honour of the Father, He came to heal us, to restore us, to make us whole. He did not have any ego needs. And because he didn't, (which in my opinion is perfect love), he shows us that we too are to surrender our egos. To save our life, we must lose it. For me this means letting go of my shallow pride/ego needs, and living entirely for Christ, with Christ, and in Christ. I think this is the more excellent way of love that St. Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 13. Here again I say, "although we are unworthy."

LORD in your mercy, Brian+