One of the people who interviewed me for the job (see footnote to yesterday’s post) said that she’d been impressed by my humour and humility. Here’s what my mind made of that: on the ego level it said, Thanks for the compliment. I’m glad you liked what you saw; for seeing something in me to recommend that I’d be hired. On the spiritual level it said, Yes, that’s how I’d like to be perceived (some day). I’m surprised and grateful that those qualities are apparent to strangers (albeit a sophisticated one in this instance).
Humility is a virtue that can be difficult to describe because of its paradoxical nature: claiming authority about humility and claiming that one is humble each suggest a lack of humility. Google reveals that humility is seen as an essential virtue in many faith traditions:
· According to Chinese Zen master Li Yuansong, enlightenment can come only after humility, the wisdom of realizing one’s own ignorance, insignificance and lowliness, without which one cannot see the truth.
· Guru Granth Sahib, the great book of Sikhism (p. 152), holds that “modesty, humility and intuitive understanding are my mother-in-law and father-in-law.” See also my post of March 28.
· Bernard of Clairvaux (1099-1143) defines humility as “a virtue by which a man knows himself as he truly is.”
· The Bible depicts humility as making us fit recipients of grace: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).
· Moses’ greatest virtue was humility (Num. xii. 3). At first he resists the mission to free his people because he mistrusts his ability. But once he accepts it, he does so with courage and energy.
As with Moses, so it is with me. Awed by the complexity of hospice work, I rise to the challenge without fear. It feels right for me to be here … to humbly serve all who entrust us with the last moments of their lives.
sources: BibleGateway.com; www.jewishencyclopedia.com; www.newadvent.org;
image: members/fortunecity.com.
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