The Truth about Humility & Meekness
The Truth about Humility
Humility is an essential virtue in living a good and holy life, yet unfortunately I think its true meaning is often misunderstood. It is not about thinking of oneself as unimportant or worthless (which often leads to pride). God does not want us to have low self-esteem, so we should not strive to have an attitude toward ourselves that is negative. That would be an unhealthy idea of humility! Instead, I think we are called to rejoice in who we are. This is why I think it is important sometimes to focus on being rather than doing.
A healthy understanding of humility is thinking of yourself in comparison to God and who he made you to be. It is about seeing the truth and reality of oneself. If one is humble, he or she does not strive to be someone else, but joyfully accepts who God created them to be. Dr. Edward Sri, in his book The Art of Living, writes:
“The humble person, therefore, is free - free to be himself, free from the restlessness that comes from never being content with who he is, and free from always straining to be someone he is not,” (181).
With that said, true humility is accepting our weaknesses, but also strengths. To use a strength or talent is virtuous, given that credit is given to God. It helps us to live with forgetfulness of self, putting the focus on God, and does not involve analyzing oneself or thinking about how others perceive us. When we live freely, we can give our very selves to others; so true humility is a very life-giving virtue. And when we make mistakes, we are called to repent and apologize, but we are not called to ruminate on faults. We are to make amends and move on in freedom.
Humility is a virtue that must be internalized through prayer and building a relationship with our Creator. Like all virtues, humility is acquired through habit and practice, as well as grace. It is helpful to contemplate the humility of Christ in his Passion and the Magnificat of the Blessed Virgin Mary (found in Luke 1:46-55).
Next week, I will muse on another virtues that is commonly misunderstood: meekness.
The Truth about Meekness
Last week, I mused on the virtue of humility, and explained why I think it is often misunderstood. Today, I’m musing on another virtue I think is sometimes misconstrued: meekness. Meekness is often defined as weakness or cowardice when it actually has everything to do with inner strength!
Meekness is often thought to be synonymous to timidity and a meek person is seen as a push-over. But meekness is not a passive disposition, but rather an active practice of virtue. Dr. Edward Sri, in The Art of Living, writes “but meekness is not weakness. In fact, it takes tremendous inner strength sometimes to hold back the passion of anger” (177). Meekness is a challenge in the world today because our culture approves of and encourages retaliation. But Christ shows us otherwise.
When I think of meekness, I think of Christ’s passion, especially the crowning of thorns. After being crowned, Jesus was mocked, spit on, and struck on the head with a reed (see Matthew 27:29-30). Jesus, being severely mistreated, could have revolted against the Roman soldiers. But he knew that if he did, he would not accomplish God’s plan of salvation. Christ chose meekness; he moderated his anger toward his persecutors and prayed “forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). So, meekness is a virtue that helps us temper our passions and allows reason return to her throne.
But we shouldn’t be door mats and let people treat us unfairly. There is such a thing as just anger and anger is a natural human emotion. In fact, lacking justified anger is a weakness because it is passive and uncharitable. Further, one of the spiritual works of mercy is admonishing the sinner. When discerning how to act in the face of injustice, meekness reminds us to not jump to conclusions, make rash judgements, or give in to passions; we are to exercise the gift of reason.
“But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace” (Psalm 37:11).