RIP Humility
by BJ Gonzalvo, PhD
Mother Teresa and Saint Francis of
Assisi constantly reminded their followers that the work they did were not
theirs but God’s. When asked why God
picked them, they both reply that God chose them, the lowliest and the weakest,
so that the people will know that what they do are possible only because of
God. They wanted to make sure that it
was God who gets all the glory and not them.
It is not easy to find such
humility these days. In today’s culture
of amped up self-promotion, pride, and personal horn-tooting, to want to be
humble is unheard of and just plain peculiar. When was the last time you heard someone, anywhere,
even from the church pulpits, preaching about humility? Humility gets a bad rap these days. Just look at how the role of humility has
evolved over the years in different arenas
of life such as sports and business. One
sports columnist actually wrote about humility in sports and shrewdly titled
his article“ May Humility Rest in Peace.” Being humble is just not the typical virtue
promoted or practiced if one wants to win a championship or to move up the corporate
ladder. We tend to associate humility
with low self-esteem, shyness, lack of confidence, and an inferior sense of
worth or importance. It can understandably
be a very confusing conundrum, and for leaders, it can be a difficult act to
find the balance between humility and self-esteem.
Humility
is a very foundational trait for those wishing to follow the footsteps of
Christ who, Himself, came down from His kingdom in heaven to raise up the
humble and the lowly. In the Old
Testament, humility was a very important trait for a leader. Moses, one of the greatest leadership figures
we have in history, was also one of the most humble in the Old Testament, “more
so than any person on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). Moses’ humility allowed him to clearly see
the purpose of God for choosing him.
Because of his humility, God chose him to lead 2 million people out of
captivity into the promised land. In a
recent homily by Pope Francis, he said that “Humility is the way to
holiness.” Humility clears up the
murkiness brought on by too much pride and arrogance, allowing us to see our
own limitations and littleness, allowing us to realize the greatness of
God.
Please come back, Humility. May we be able to find you again. May we actively seek you and pursue you. We might not realize it now but we need you.
