Regarding Humility

I live in the city that favors Glam over that unmenntionable thing I hesitated to type above. I was afraid that you wouldn’t even take the time to read it since I gave it such a boring title. Humility. Dang I said again.

Recently I have discovered that humility is the best of qualities. I don’t say that to argue with you over virtues, I say that because I see humility as a welcome sign on your unlocked, front gate that people will be obliged to walk through. I mean humility breaks down barriers. A humble person can talk to anyone. A humble person can talk to celebrity and make them feel human. A humble person can a homeless person and make them feel human. A humble person is confident, not in their money, background, attitude or some other lame quality, but confident in their humanness. They acknowledge their “brokenness,” as Christians like to say. (in non-Christian-ese, one might say shortcomings or tendencies toward failure or something of the sort). But while the humble person acknowledges their brokenness, they do not wallow in it, they do not let it lock them in a dark room of shame. They walk around their lives, knowing that their failures is not all of who they are, but instead, their failures are a source of encouragement and a way to relate to and understand other people’s humanity. They listen and can be silent. They acknowledge God. They admit God is smarter, bigger, and more beautiful then anything they can imagine, and the humble person knows that this God is for them. Is their advocate, the cheering father at the soccer game, the warm mother tucking them into bed at night. The humble person always remembers to ask how another is doing. The humble person opens doors, is easy to confide in, is loving. For fear and judgment of another is not in their vocabulary. They know that they could just as easily be in your shoes as you could be in theirs and so they understand. I desire humility.

So I pray for humility. I ask for it but wonder what it means to ask to be humbled. What kind of christmas paper does it come wrapped in?

I am realizing that I don’t have to wait to be knocked down in the dirt to be humbled. I can choose it. I can join the choir and softball team. I can wear a dorky looking helmet while I ride my bike. I can remind myself to consider another better than myself. And while I’d rather not play a sport that I am not good at, or join a choir that doesn’t practice enough to sing the four part harmonies it attempts to sing, or wear a dorky looking helmet, I know that my head is breakable, that I will be all right if I strike out every time I am up to bat, and I will learn from those other humble people who put themselves up there in those church choir robes.