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Humility, the art of being humble. Sounds simple enough but what does it really
mean?
Good old Ben
Franklin had his ideas. He once wrote
about how he decided he needed to work to overcome the Seven Deadly Sins,
number one of which is Pride. After
conquering six of the seven, only pride remained, the worst of all deadly
sins. So, he focused on his humility,
and in time realized it was hopeless, he could never conquer pride. Because when he did conquer pride with his
humility, he had to be proud of his humility.
Well Ben is not the
only one to be frustrated with the pursuit of happiness and overcoming of
sins. But first, what is the basis of
the Seven Deadly Sins and Cardinal Virtues?
Contrary to popular opinion, there is no Biblical basis for either
list. Nowhere in the Bible or Teaching
of Jesus does scripture say here are the lists.
Of course, there
is encouragement to master them but not in the form of a list, just in
references to individual sins and virtues throughout the Old and New
Testament. So, they were made up along
the way in order to encourage people to focus on sins.
History of Seven Deadly Sins
The seven deadly sins were
first compiled by Pope Gregory I around the year 600. They are pride, greed,
lust, wrath, gluttony, envy, and sloth. Gregory also compiled a list of the
seven virtues: faith, hope, charity, justice, prudence, temperance, and
fortitude. The Bible would validate all of these concepts, but nowhere are they
recorded in a list like this and nowhere in the Bible are they specifically
referred to as the seven deadly sins or seven virtues.
They do not predate the Ten
Commandments which were given at Mt. Sinai around 1450 B.C. It is probably
true that they were used extensively to teach principles from God's Word,
particularly in the centuries before the invention of the printing press when
the Bible was not available for the common man to read and study.
History of the Seven Cardinal Virtues
In the book, “The Seven Cardinal Virtues” Stalker
traces the origins of the seven virtues to ancient Greece, written by Aristotle
and Plato. In fact, the Greek
philosophers identified the four virtues of wisdom, justice, temperance, and
courage as crucial for a person to imbibe.
Later when the New Testament was studied more intently three more
virtues were added, charity, hope and faith.
Hence it is common to refer to the initial four virtues as the Cardinal virtues
while the later three are termed the Theological virtues.
The origin of the
seven heavenly virtues can be traced to the Epic Poem, Psychopathic, containing the battle of the virtues and vices, written in AD 410 by Aurelius
Clemens Prudentius. This popular work of the Middle Ages helped in
propagating the concept of good virtues against
the evil vices across Europe. One could be untouched by the seven deadly sins
by inculcating the seven heavenly virtues.
Contribution of the Great Philosophers to the lists
Since they were first presented
around the year 600 and 410, and the sins were based on earlier teaching of
Aristotle and Plato. How interesting
that two of the most famous philosophers in history laid the foundation for the
Christian sins and virtues and they lived between 300 and 470 years before
Jesus. I consider Socrates the third of
the most influential philosophers in history and it does not hurt to look at
the relationship between the three since their careers overlapped.
- Socrates is mostly known through the
accounts of classical Greek writers, but Plato describes him as his
teacher.
- Plato’s Academy (AKA
the Academy) was founded by Plato in circa 387 BC in Athens.
- At seventeen or eighteen years of age,
Aristotle joined Plato’s Academy in Athens and remained
there until the age of thirty-seven (c. 347 BC).
- Aristotle left Athens and, at the request
of Philip of Macedon, tutored Alexander the Great beginning in c. 343 BC.
Socrates, born in Athens in 470 BC, is
often credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. The cloud of
mystery surrounding his life and philosophical viewpoints propose a problem; a
problem so large that it’s given a name itself: The Socratic Problem. Since he
did not write philosophical texts, all knowledge related to him is entirely
dependent on the writings of other people of the time period.
Plato, student of Socrates, also has
mystery surrounding him. His birth day is estimated to fall between 428 BC and
423 BC. He’s known for being the founder of the Academy in Athens, the first
institution of higher learning in the Western world.
Aristotle, student of Plato, lived from
384 BC-322 BC. At eighteen, he joined Plato’s Academy in Athens and remained
there until the age of thirty-seven. There, he honed his talents of
understanding the world.
These three laid the foundations of many
of the beliefs of the rest of the Western world. Philosophers such as John
Locker and Descartes use the theories these brilliant minds brought forth in
their own works. What a remarkable
century when all three walked the earth.
So back to my mission, humility, I have
now destroyed any Biblical origin for the list of sins and virtues and traced
their origins to three centuries before Jesus amidst a group of pagan scholars
who explained about everything in the world.
All my life I have been fascinated at how
three such brilliant and productive people could have been on Earth during the
same period and had such a lasting impact on everything we do today, nearly
2,500 years later. It was almost as if
God sent these “adepts” to change the world and get it back on track. Not unlike the chaos of today.
Back to the Lists of Today
Regardless of the source, we have these
lists because the Church liked the idea of such things, it was a new way to
generate money for the Church through the sale of indulgences, and it was only
appropriate to tie these famous heathen scholars to the Church for credibility.
Pride is the
deadliest of the deadly sins, and pride can only be counteracted with
humility. Certainly, humility is the polar
opposite of pride, thus satisfying the need for polarization in Creation while
attacking the number one deadly sin.
However, it leaves
me a bit perplexed because there are some pretty extreme acts of pride that can
be committed, so are there parallel extreme acts of humility needed to offset
the extreme acts of pride? If so, does
that mean humility can be deployed as a means of targeting and defeating pride,
adjusting to whatever extremes pride throws its way?
I tend to view
humility in a more passive way that is not interest in beating down and
punishing the opposition, whether it be pride in the form of conceit,
self-confidence, self-importance, arrogance, or stupidity. To me pride agitates, humility calms, it
works to bring things back in balance.
Somehow it
instinctively seeks out and finds the middle ground, the compromise, and
quickly shepherds the far more aggressive and obvious aspects of pride to that
point. Humility can be a very deceptive
and decisive tool in your weaponry.
Often underestimated, always overlooked, it prefers to operate in
silence, invisibly avoiding attention.
While humility
seems to be desperately needed because of the vast legions of cocky,
chest-thumping, righteous, self-centered, conceited know-it-alls inhabiting our
world, it might be better used and more successful at helping those who are
good but need some guidance.
Why do I say that,
because there is an aspect of humility that can be counter-productive to the
teachings of Jesus, and can be a tool of the Dark Side to disrupt the path of
the righteous when seeking Our Father?
Often the greatest
progress on the Road to Kingdom Come can result from removing obstacles to your
path rather than learning new things.
Since the entire spectrum of sin deals with a reality or dimension
beyond our everyday physical life on Earth, it plays out more as metaphysical
warfare in the ethers of space.
Most sins are an
emotional rejection of truth that then are manifested in your physical
reality. The emotional rejection of right
is played out in the mind of the sinner where free will makes a choice counter
to the teachings of Jesus.
Stop for a minute
and ask yourself, what in the world does humble little me have that would be of
interest to Satan and the Dark Side.
Well humble little you just refused in that assessment to recognize your
power, your strength, and your road to salvation.
What you have,
what you have forgotten, and what you must find and remember, is the perfect
love of Our Father, the Creator. That
astonishing miracle comes to you in the form of your Creation, duh!!!, in the
gifts Father Creator has embedded in you, in the Father’s desire to see you use
those gifts to help others find the way back to the garden, and in receiving
(but not yet acknowledging) the Perfect love of the Father for all of Creation.
So, what is an
obstacle to your purpose and mission in life?
It would be so easy for anyone associated with the Dark Side to use
humility as a ploy to convince you that it would be egotistical or conceited to
think you could excel above all others in anything in your life. Or to say you cannot fulfill the Father’s
desires for you to use those gifts, because you might give people the
impression you know what is best for people.
Jesus never needed
pages and pages of laws, rules, orders, definitions, and court rulings to
determine what is right and wrong. Why
do we need such things? People who
preach conformity, preach normality, preach continuity, have forgotten Our
Father is perfection and there is no reason his creations cannot represent
perfection. In fact, his desire is for
you to achieve perfection in the gifts he gave you.
People who press
the issue of humility on you are trying to prohibit you from achieving the
recognition from the Creator for your actions.
If it is not intentional, then they have been duped by the Dark Side to
take such a stand. They work to suppress
your efforts to use the gifts of the Creator by excelling in the gifts he gave
you.
Humility should be
a source of inspiration and nourishment for the soul. It cannot be a source of limitation, of being
an obstacle between you and Our Father’s desires for you. Humility means you acknowledge the love and
gifts of the Creator and excel in your use of them to help, or inspire
others. That is your expression of
thanks, that is what the Creator wants to see.
Enlightened people
and those on the road to enlightenment desire to seek out the truth, and desire
to please Jesus and the Father very much.
When they are successful they seem to infect people all around them with
the love and grace of the Father they have received and the compassion,
empathy, and spiritual growth they have attained from the teaching of Jesus.
Suzanne singing Pie Jesu
Click
Just the mere act
of turning down the volume and moderating the blood pressure in these good
souls touches the people around them, radiating calmness, warm thoughts, joy,
happiness, satisfaction, and respect for others. That pleases Jesus.
People pleasing
the Father and Jesus do not have to be poor, do not have to dress in rags, do
not have to suffer from hunger, drug addiction, sexual abuse or anything else,
in short, they do not have to be the epitome of humility forsaking all that
makes them special so as not to disrupt or disturb those who are not special.
Give me a break.
Jesus was the
model for humility, yet he changed water into wine, healed the sick, drove out
demons, and even raised the dead. As if
that was not a sufficient example of the good in exceptionalism, he then was
crucified, died, raised himself from the dead (with a little help from the
Creator), then sailed off into the sky to Heaven with Moses and Elijah on
either side while promising to return one day.
He taught there
was nothing he did we could not do, if we just have faith. We are all the children and Creation of
Father Creator.
Seriously, we can
do anything you can do?
My soul, my
spirit, my heart all long to be just like Jesus, but my mind says don’t be a
fool, you are not flying anywhere on your own.
I have work to do.
Fortunately, I
also have a hyperactive imagination that kicks in just when my mind most needs
it, when it thinks it knows everything, has all the answers, or starts to view
things from a superior perspective. The
only thing that being wealthy, sophisticated, or intellectual has to do with it
is to make it harder to be humble.
Sometimes being
humble is going as far as you can on three flat tires. It is running out of gas going down the
mountain rather than up the mountain.
Good things come to those who are humble up to a point, the point being
when humility becomes that obstacle to your achieving perfection. The point when it stands in the way of your
full use of the gifts the Creator gave you.
The point where the Father’s desires for your success and perfection are
derailed by an overzealous humility.
You must not use
humility as an excuse to not seek perfection in the eyes of God and Jesus, for
perfection in the perfect love of Father Creator is what the Father
desires. Nor should you use it as an
excuse to mask your fear of failure, of disappointment, rejection, or just
plain dumb things you may be inclined to do in the course of life.
Humility can be
mastered without sacrificing the expectation, desires, and love of the
Father. There is nothing wrong with
being right, nothing weak about being strong, nothing bad about being good.
Do I ignore the
effort I put into being good at what I do?
Do I reject as excessive the knowledge I learn about something in order
to excel? Do I discount the lessons I
learned, both good and bad, from my experiences? Do I, in the interest of being humble, let
other people take credit for what I create?
Suzanne singing St.Theresa's Prayer
Click to listen
If I did it might
be the “humble” way to approach life in order to master humility, but does it
please the Father, who is perfection? That
don’t seem right to me, the title of a song I wrote.
It sits on a shelf
with a few hundred other songs I wrote, victims of my humble view of myself as
a prolific writer, poet, or composer.
That seems like an extreme use of humility, to deny myself the
opportunity to share a part of my heart and soul with you through music.
I’m counting on
getting over that notion before Judgement Day.
Yet another
problem with humility I see is it puts a great big bullseye on your back for
those of the Dark Side to find you, because they live to disrupt the salvation
of all souls, especially yours, and block any actions pleasing to God.
That sucks too.
In the end we have
to strike a balance in our lives. We
honor the Father by using the gifts he gave us to the best of our ability. We please Our Father by doing whatever we do
in a humble way. We succeed in our
mission when miracles do happen.
Kind of a sharp
contrast or dilemma, excel or not, succeed or not, be who we think we are or we
think we are meant to be.
In closing, let me
share an experience that demonstrates what I mean. Once I met a young woman who was the pinnacle
of perfection, as I know it. She lived
in a state of Grace. Somehow, her
transfiguration was achieved early in life or she was born with it.
She loved and
served Jesus, talked to him every day, and did nothing without asking his
permission first. Suzanne was the
epitome of humility, safely secure within a state of Grace, and she was happy,
fearless, and lived for the moment. At
the same time she radiated that golden glow of Father Creator to a degree that
she was virtually invisible to most around her.
I spent many hours
talking to her, knowing that her time with me would be short as so many people
needed her message of inspiration, hope and joy. Always she had a soft smile for everyone and
never pushed an agenda of what they needed to be saved. Her dress was humble and understated her
beauty and remarkable faith in Jesus.
Shortly before she
left to continue her journey, she said she played the harp and loved to sing to
the Lord and Jesus. As she prepared to
drive away, she gave me a CD and said I might enjoy it.
It was her,
playing beautiful music on her harp, singing angelic songs and praising Jesus
and the Lord. There was accompaniment from
some nuns and minimal music so as not to interfere with the message. The recording was clearly done in a magnificent
Cathedral.
The sound was the most
soothing, beautiful, well produced album I ever heard. Mind you I had a lot of
involvement in Christian and Gospel music working in the industry in Nashville
and doing sessions in some exceptional studios.
A nationwide radio show I created featured and introduced many Christian
artists to the world.
Suzanne singing How Great Thou Art
Click
The album Suzanne gave
me was at the top of the charts from my perspective, a magical voice with
perfect pitch, and a production second to none.
I listened to the CD after she left.
Then I looked at the disc. She
titled the album “My Soul Magnifies the Lord,” half the songs were called “Quiet
Meditations” and half were called “Sacred Hymns.” It was a masterpiece, and her name was nowhere
to be found on the CD or cover.
A year later she
wrote and told me she wanted to share her gifts, but not attention for
performing them as it might distract from the message in the music. No greater proper and perfect demonstration
of humility could be found, and all it took was an angel to show me the
way.
In summary, if
humility was the answer it would be a Cardinal Virtue, but it did not make the
cut. However, there is a time and place for
it as long as you do not let it stop you from seeking perfection in the gifts
you received from the Creator, from trying to live up to the Creator’s desires
for you, and from finding joy and happiness in our world.
