| 7:40p |
Notes from a poor monk
The next notes:
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Love is a divine virtue (one of the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity), the consummation of all virtues on which "depend the whole law and the prophets". Without love, all other vitures are without the least value. The same can be said of humility, which is the highest of human virtues. At this point in our pursuit of GOODNESS, we want to consider humility: What is it? How do we attain it? What is its opposite?
Just as love is at the heart of all other virtues, it "embodies" them, expresses the innermost substance of authentic holiness. Simlarly, humility is the "pre-condition" of all other virtues. It is basic to the genuineness, beauty, and truth of all these other specifically human strengths (i.e., virtues) of the spiritual life. Humility is the virtue that acknowledges our creaturely status. It is the "simple truth"...the word humility is itself derived from the latin word for soil, i.e., humus...in other words, it is the ground (i.e., the "truth") or basis, the authentic bed-rock or foundation of all virtuous living.
In humility, our acknowledgement of God's glory comes before the recognition of our creatureliness. Humility recognizes the "being-ness" of our human condition. It permits us to see ourselves as we really are, morally, and in every other way; hence, it is the "truth" of our lives. By virtue of humility, we hear the personal call of God, admit that it comes from God, and proceed to answer it. The humble person credits himself where credit is due, but in the end acknowledges that all things are possible only because God is the author of life and its possibilities. Humility enables us to acknowledge our imperfections, our weaknesses and proclivities, our defects and defectibility and is not fearful of legitimate subordination to others. Yet, it is not without backbone, nor is it servility. It originates in the right response to life, hence, to God. Finally, it confers a certain beauty on those who are truly humble, in the proper sense of that word.
It would be impossible to think of goodness without humility and even more impossible to pursue goodness without true humility. Yet, most people misunderstand humility. And because they misunderstand it, they do not attain it except perhaps some "smidgin" of it by way of sheer accident. It is crucial, then, for us to understand this virtue and its relationship to the inner life. |