But the mere mention of humility conjures up, in many minds, the idea that humility means allowing other people to walk all over you or a self-abasement or that it turns one into that perfect example of mock humility - Uriah Heep. Because the poet Keats understood it as such, he said: "I hate humility".
Humility is not self-contempt but the truth about ourselves coupled with a reverence for others; it is self-surrender to the highest goal. A man who is six feet four is not humble when he says: "Oh, no, really I am only four feet four" - because that is not the truth; neither is an opera singer humble when she says: "Oh, I really am nothing in the singing profession; neither is a beautiful person humble when she says: "I am really ugly". Such protestations against the truth are marks of pride rather than of humility. Humility in such cases consists in the acknowledgment of the truth that we have received the gifts for which we are praised: "What have you that you did not receive and why do you glory, as if you had not received?" The humble person is embarrassed with praise because he knows that his voice, his talents or his power come to him from God. In his heart of hearts, he passes the thanks on to God when the lips of men exalt him. He takes praise as a window receives light, never to possess it and hoard it unto himself but to pass it through with thanksgiving to God who so endowed him.
All good things that men possess are in constant peril of running into exaggeration, once it is forgotten that they are gifts. A man on the strong side may become self-willed and push his weight around; one who has intellectual power may look down on the ignorant, forgetful that they have moral gifts which far surpass his mental powers; the self-reliant may become corrupted into self-conceit; and those who have self-confidence may be so sure of themselves as to fall into the pit because of a refusal to listen to the counsel of others. Those who can watch often despise those who cannot watch and who sleep; the strong may try to force the weak to walk at their pace and become angry with them because they cannot. Life has to be toned down with that moral quality which recognizes that wealth, health, wisdom and above all, faith and love are gifts of God which grow and intensify with a spirit of thanksgiving.
We strive for what is best but "the best gifts of life are free" or bestowed. Spring is a gift; music is a gift; a rose is a gift; air is a gift; grass is a gift; the silver stream, the blazing horizon, the purple of the dawn are all gifts. As the poet Lowell put it in "The Vision of Sir Launfal":
At the devil's booth all things are sold
Each ounce of dross costs its ounce of gold;
For a cap and bells our lives we pay,
Bubbles we buy with a whole soul's tasking:
This heaven alone that is given away,
This only God may be had for the asking;
No price is set on the lavish summer:
June may be had by the poorest corner.
Love itself is a gift; forced love is rape; forced patriotism is tyranny. What is true of the love of man and woman is true of the love of God; it is free on His side and first; it is free on our side and a response. "If any man hear My voice and open the door to Me, I will come in and sup with him and he with Me".
Because we are the recipients of gifts, the humble man is reverent and thankful to God. Daniel Webster was once asked what the greatest thought was that ever entered his mind; his answer was: "Personal accountability to God for His gifts" President Garfield, in a similar vein, once said: "It is above all things necessary that in every action I should have a good opinion of James Garfield, for to eat and drink and sleep and wake up with one you despise - though that one be yourself - is an intolerable thought, and what must it be as a life experience?
"THE PROUD MAN COUNTS HIS NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS - THE HUMBLE MAN HIS BLESSINGS!"
BY ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN ( 1895 to 1979 )
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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