truth = humility

truth = humility

I suppose that the virtue of humility misunderstood by many people, not by all by any means but enough to perhaps cause some serious trouble in our spiritual journey through life.  I remember talking to a woman, a very devout Christian and what I would consider a classic beauty; dark haired, refined face and a very nice build and who dressed with real class (at least in my opinion).  We are friends and one day when she was visiting my work place visiting the sick, I did remark on how beautiful she was.  Being good friends she knew I was not flirting with her but simply making a comment.  Her reaction surprised me since she blushed and seemed pained and tried to deny this “fact” of her beauty.  Since we are friends I got a tad (a southern form of measurement) impatient with her and said:  “Listen lady if God made you a rose and not a sunflower accept it and get over it.  There is nothing wrong with being a classic beauty; to deny an obvious truth about yourself is not “humility” but a form of self-denial that is helpful to neither you nor anyone else”.  I suppose that she thought people would think her “proud” if she admitted to her innate physical beauty.  I understand that since I have my own problems with this in accepting my “good qualities”.  I suppose that I don’t want to become too self-conscious about certain things about myself; which goes against humility.

It is easy for me to “down grade” myself it sorts of points to my own struggles with self acceptance about my higher qualities; hence my reacting to my friends doing the very same thing.  It is easy for me to denigrate myself, sort of natural and so I have to work against it, not believe it, embrace it and move one.  It sounds like a pat answer but it is not easy for me to do. 

I suppose the whole point of love, true love of any kind from any one is simply a gift; a gift bestowed on someone like me who is very imperfect and as a Christian a “sinner”. I still have areas in my life that I still struggle with to turn over to God so to speak and it would be easy to simply give up and say what is the use.  I suppose that comes from my lack of understanding of “infinite love” that has been revealed for me in Jesus Christ.  Funny how easy it is to make God’s love less than the love that we often show to each other in our relationships on a daily basis.  We forgive those we love, we know that they are not perfect, have weaknesses.  We also know that are loved ones are good, beautiful and caring people; that is why we love them.  The other parts about them we accept and even embrace since it is the combination of good and less good that draw us to each other. 

So infinite love is the ultimate in grace, we are loved because we are lovable, and the most humble and the hardest thing for many of us (I am talking about Meeee-self here) is to simply make that a fact of life.  Humility is experiencing that, and learning that God also loves “all” in the same manner but in a manner unique to each of us.  Damm infinite love, an ocean of mercy and forgiveness surrounding us, traveling with us in the ups and downs of live, lifting us up when we are down.  It is not easy to realize that God loves the worst of us, the most wicked in a manner that in inconceivable. and it is that knowledge that allows the desire of revenge and death  will be taken away from me; not without struggle but something to be striven for.  To be freed from that even a little is a great boon, since desires like that cause no manner of pain for all involved.

I think the parable of the “Prodigal Son” explains it all, at least for me.  So humility allows me to accept myself, not to despair when this “truth” is not good news and to trust in the “truth” of God’s love, not just for me but for all no matter who they are or what they have done.  There is the justice of God of course but I will leave that up to a judge who sees the depths of our hearts.  We see the surface while God sees our deepest selves and still loves us and most of all has an infinite understanding of who we are and where we are coming from. 

Below is something I picked up from the net on “true humility”.

In Book IV, section three, of the Nicomachean Ethics , Aristotle says that the humility is the via media between those who think of themselves inordinately and those who lack self-respect. The Greek word is saphronsyne. The only English word we have for it is magnanimous. Sometimes, it gets translated by the phrase "high-minded."

    & nbsp;  The point of his excursus on the subject is to suggest that true humility has an accurate self-appraisal. It implies a certain confidence. It implies a certain self-acceptance. It implies a character that is at home with one's self. It is the ability to be able to state the skills you have to the degree you have them. On the one hand, you can claim your gifts and you can appreciate the good that has come from their deployment.

    & nbsp;  On the other hand, it is a knowledge of your limits. It is not claiming credit for things you didn't have any effect over. The original virtue comes from two fields, the military and politics. Things happen in the middle of battle, unforeseen events and consequences. "High minded" soldiers accept the accolades of their peers for heroism in battle. And they also refuse to claim credit for turns in battle that just happened on their watch.

Peace

mitch