Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Humility
Blessed are the meek. Meekness and humility have always been difficult for me. A family joke is that I am very talented but have no humility. One summer while in Tucson I took a week long personal retreat focused on the subject. I’m not sure I gained much but a did compose a prayer to help me move in that direction.
Lord Jesus give me grace to be
So filled with your humility
That other souls I’ll come to see
More precious than my own to be
When I come face to face with hate
When anger cries and fears debate
When hurt rejects and chaos reigns
Let me bring love into the pain.
May I forgive as you have me
May your light shine for all to see
As all the gifts that I receive
Are shared to give my thanks to thee
And most of all I pray your Grace
That when I see you face to face
That in my eyes you too may see
Your love in my humility
Spiritual Director
The Rev Burt Air, one of my first spiritual directors gave me this advice. He was a football fan. The spiritual life isn’t a dive up the middle. It’s an end run. One cannot focus on humility directly. Doing so ends with you thinking you have achieved it. A sure sign you have not.
One of my all time favorite songs is from the musical Porgy and Bess. Porgy is a disabled street begger living in Harlem. He sings “I got plenty of nothin’ and nothing’s plenty for me.” It is true for him as he sings about all the things that are free for us all:
‘Cause de things dat I prize
Like de stars in de skies
All are free
Oh, I got plenty o’ nuttin’
An’ nuttin’s plenty fo’ me
I got my gal, got my song
Got Hebben de whole day long!
No use complainin’!
Got my gal, got my Lawd, got my song
Camp
I learned to appreciate all these things while working at Otter Lake Conservation School in Greenfield, New Hampshire. My boss at the time, mentor and friend Bob Gingrich was my teacher and role model. On my first training nature walk Bob lead us out of the dining hall. It took us a half hour to go less than 100 yards. He was so full of joy and enthusiasm for every plant and animal!
Bob told us the story of two friends, a young college student from the city and a Native American. They were walking in the city during a break from college. The friend stopped and said, “Listen there is a cricket.”
“Wow,” replied the city friend, “You Indians realy have an extra sense of hearing.”
“Not so” he replied.” Then reaching in his pocket he tossed some coins onto the sidewalk. Immediately several other pedestrians stopped and looked around.
“You see, it depends on what you are listening to hear!”
Pine Mt
The summer before I went to seminary I worked as team leader for a church camp (Horton Conference center the top of Pine Mt.) in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. One evening I was sitting alone by a campfire reading my Bible. I think I was reading the story of the rich young man. Who asked Jesus what he must do to enter the Kingdom.
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Matthew 19:21 NIV
The following day was my day off. Before I left I took most of my possessions and left them among the rooms of the other staff: a camera, a tennis racket, etc. However, when I returned the next day I found them all piled upon my bed. This is what I learned. Before, those important things owned me. After, I was no longer possessed by them and was free to enjoy the whole world.
Perhaps the best lesson I learned about humility was through watching our Chaplain, The Rev. Dr. Tatadaka Mariama. Tad, as we called him was from Japan. He had just completed his Doctor of Ministry in Geneva, Switzerland before coming to New Hampshire for the summer. Afterwards he would be going home to Japan to be president of a seminary. Our core staff of 6 shared a small cabin with one bathroom. One day on the last week of camp I came into the cabin to find Tad cleaning the toilet. He had been quietly doing this lowly task all summer. It had never crossed me mind to help clean the cabin in any way, let alone a toilet. To this day I think of him whenever confronted with what I might otherwise consider such a task.
As we become meek and humble we see life through new lenses. We experience nature and our neighbors as gifts. Creation was made good and we know it. We enjoy our lives and the world in which we live. The more we live into this, the more we are lead to the next Beatitude. We hunger for more wholeness and righteousness.
Questions for reflection and/or discussion
- How do you understand meekness or humility?
- Can you give examples of people you consider to be humble?
- Are there any tasks you consider beneath you?
- What ways are you connected to the earth as an inheritance?
For more on the Beatitudes get my book The Path of Grace