I am beginning to appreciate that humility is one of the coolest practices one ought to bother with. Especially if one’s interested in simple living: as little drama as possible; “keep the fake-fake-fake at a healthy distance, please”; and like to eat mud every now and then because why not? Last time I checked it was still “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” Of course, I am not yapping about the “manner of speech” riff-raff many of us voice when, really, we are feeling like the BOMB but are too afraid to come off as arrogant crickets. You know, “It is sooooo humbling!” Meanwhile your imaginary diamond crown is so heavy your neck needs a steel brace.
Years ago, I came across this quote attributed to C. S. Lewis, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” I thought I would use the quote here and in searching for it came across Aaron Armstrong’s blog. It states there the quote actually belongs to Rick Warren (I am unfamiliar with this name). Armstrong goes on to share what Lewis actually did share (thanks human!) in Mere Christianity––I have a copy but have yet to read it:
Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call ‘humble’ nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all. (128) º
Did Dumbledore come to mind? Good old Dumbledore whom I want to grow up to become. Good awesome Dumbledore who is one of the most beautiful characters ever written—a reason why, in my view, J. K. Rowling will never be anything less than a most profound woman.
And what of biblical Job? To lose everything, be bothered with itchy maggoty-sores and still refuse to curse God!
But is not the practice of humility just another way of giving up one’s spine and basically tattooing on one’s face, in large letters: I AM A PUSHOVER. Now, now, now it is easier to be a pushover––although you burn in a hell you can’t bring yourself to say no to. Humility on the other hand is a serious business. It is not passive. It is actively saying no to what you don’t need, corporally and spiritually. It is not sacrificing long term peace of mind and wellbeing for instant gratification, nor for wealth and glory. And I don’t know about you, but my ego loves to yell things like “Who the heck do you think you are?” and “Let me teach them to never mess with me again.” So to decide to turn the other cheek or not even “accept” an insult is a monstrous challenge.
Of course, if I am reading his Thus Spoke Zarathustra, correctly, Nietzsche disagrees. But I am curious what dead Nietzsche discovers. Is he right, is it really true that “there is no devil and no hell. Your soul will be dead even before your body”? If so how come I know the devil and hell? How come both already exist inside and outside me? And pride favors the devil in me which brings me hell in daily living. I would rather trust my experiences and bargain that the soul is infinite and die to find I am wrong, than be as confident as Nietzsche and declare the soul to be as transient as the body and find out, for forever, that I am wrong. How can he disbelieve hell when his own life was hellish? How can one say the devil isn’t real when hate is palpable?
Here is what I am saying, despite it seeming otherwise, humility is not an extreme quality––the absolute bottom. Humility is a balancing attitude. And what’s more challenging for human than the balanced? That which spells discipline? Humility makes way for the impossible. Pride bars the impossible and believes the ego to be complete and thus proclaim its limited perspective the total truth.
Every way I can think to look at it, it seems to me that working on self-humility is a most sustainable practice. It is the root of gratitude, generosity, simplicity, harmony, empathy, serious laughter, shameless contentment. Why? Because humility starts with honesty: inside out. Honesty takes weight off one’s shoulders, gives one courage to face oneself, and makes the heart’s true path clearer. And when one walks with one’s heart, is faith not with one? Does one not work towards a vision that’s most attractive? Having a holistic vision and walking its path is living, no? And if one gets to live beautifully as such, does it not become clear, sooner or later, that every second of life is an act of grace?
I will end with one of the loveliest lines I have read recently. It belongs to C. G. Jung (I just finished Answer to Job. (Trying to make head and tail of it!) Now reading The Red Book):
The spirit of the depths taught me to say: “I am the servant of a child.” Through this dictum I learn above all the most extreme humility, as what I most need. (134) º º
– – –
J. A. Odartey
º Lewis, C. S. Mere Chrisitianity. London: William Collins, 2016. Print.
º º Jung, C. G. The Red Book: A Reader’s Edition. Trans. Mark Kyburz, John Peck, & Sonu Shamdasani. Philemon Series. New York: W. W. Norton, 2009. Print.
