Categories
Tag: Humility
Categories
Don’t Say THIS Prayer
TRANSCRIPT:
So, this is the worst prayer you can ever pray: the Litany of Humility. So, I prayed this prayer because I’m trying to work on pride, which is the root of all sins, and the other day, I had a significant Zoom meeting scheduled with a business prospect. I always take my time to make sure I’m in place, I’m prepared, I’ve done my research, my lighting is decent, sometimes I even try and brush my hair, that sort of thing. And moments before the Zoom call began, there was a fire right here on my desk. What had happened was the little space heater that I have here in my basement office that I use when it’s particularly cold outside caught fire. And so as my Zoom call began, you know, when they let you into that waiting room on a Zoom call? Right as that happened, there was smoke wafting up in front of the camera, and I could see the fire right in front of me.
And of course, I had no option but to try and deal with it right there on camera. That was how I began that call. And as embarrassing as that was, as difficult as that was, that was only just the beginning. Because as I kind of tried to explain to my prospective client what was happening, I heard what sounded like a waterfall in my office. And the truth is that there was, in fact, a waterfall in my office. There was a plumbing catastrophe with my aquaponics system. I have a great big fish tank, and the water from the fish tank is pumped into a container where we grow spinach and lettuce and thyme and basil and those kinds of things, and then the water recycles between the plants and the fish. That all sounds really good, and for the last three years it’s worked fantastically. Until that day.
Somehow, the drainage pipe had clogged up, and the water, instead of flowing back to the fish, was just- it was a waterfall right onto the floor of the basement. That was how I started out the most significant meeting of the week. And so I took that as a message from Our Lord that I need to maybe not take myself so seriously, trust in Him some more, and embrace this whole idea of humiliation, because that was pretty embarrassing.
Categories
To See Ourselves as We Are
Categories
It’s Time For Me to Decrease
TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, gentlemen. I’ve been reading St. John the Baptist’s words lately- like maybe you have this time of year- and how he talked about the need for him to decrease so that Christ could increase. And you know, it occurred to me that this is not just a catchy saying about John the Baptist, he’s not virtue signaling. This is actually a way of life, and it’s one that we are all called to adopt. Our abandonment of our attachment to things of this world, and that includes our own thoughts and our own feelings to the extent that they’re not perfectly in alignment with the will of God.
So, I must grow smaller in my thoughts, in my words, in my prayers, in my conscious thinking about things, my recollection, my memories, my goals, and my planning for the rest of my life. There needs to be less of me in all of that. In fact, I serve as the primary obstacle to grace in my own life. So, in every possible way, I’m obliged to try and grow smaller, to decrease, because just like when you put something- an object- inside of a box or a can, that object takes up space by its very existence. It’s precluding something else from occupying that space. It’s hard to think about for those of us who have probably spent our entire lives saying, “I want to do this. I want to achieve this. I want to accomplish this. I want to be like this when I grow up. I want to be known for this. I want to have children. I want to have grandchildren. I want to be a good husband.”
Well, sometimes those things are properly ordered, but oftentimes they’re not or at least they’re ordered to a lesser good than what God desires for us. I’m committed to trying to live anew, like John the Baptist talked about, becoming lesser so that God can become greater. And by that method, I have the hope of reaching eternal life.
Categories
Bearing Accusation Silently
TRANSCRIPT:
You know, during Advent, like with Lent, it’s a great time to reflect on our Lord’s life and how it’s an example for us in every way. And you know, it occurred to me that Our Lord would have exemplified this notion of abasement, where you lower yourself to the point where you don’t even defend yourself when people lie about you, when people say things to hurt you or imply things about you, or just outright engage in slander, defamation, and libel.
Our Lord lived His whole life that way. We’re familiar with the examples during His Passion, where he was accused of things, betrayed over and over and over again and never once spoke up to defend Himself from those lies. But He would have lived His entire life like that. And we know what people are like. Kids, for example- surely there were times when He was a child when He was playing with the other kids in the village- whether it was Bethlehem or Nazareth or in Egypt or wherever He was-.and there must have been times when, kids being kids, things happened; a window got knocked out in a nice home or somebody did something, and they pointed the finger at Jesus and blamed Him.
It’s almost certain that He would not have defended Himself unless the circumstances just really required that He speak the truth rather than take the blame. And I was thinking about myself and how difficult it is to take the blame. It’s hard enough when it’s true, but when it’s false, when it’s a lie, there’s something in me- perhaps you all have experienced this too- that someone lies about you and blames you falsely, and it just screams out in you to defend yourself. And gosh, there’s a lot of work there to be done to be willing to take the blame when you’re not guilty.
And this happens in the workplace, it happens in society, it happens online- worst of all, probably, if you’re online, on social media. And it even happens at home, right? It might be that your spouse says something about you that’s not true. Sometimes that happens between spouses, right? “Well, you did this,” or “You said this,” or “You made it sound like this.” And sometimes it’s just not true, and you might feel that defense lawyer begging to come out of you and defend yourself to the very end- every ‘i’ dotted and ‘t’ crossed and so forth. But sometimes, even just on a practical level, not just the spiritual doing it for humility, but on the practical level, sometimes it really is just better to say nothing. And your silence kind of allows that word, that unspoken admission of guilt, to be assumed, and yet it might actually be better for the situation. It might be better for that relationship. And maybe days later, weeks later, months or years later, it could be addressed, and you say, “You know, there was this time…” But in that moment, it might be better to say nothing.
And it’s painful. It’s difficult. It’s hard. But Our Lord has given us the example that it is better, oftentimes, for our soul. And it might just be better for our relationship with other people and the example that we set, especially if you have children. I hope this has been helpful, and I hope you’ll pray for me as I work on this. Thanks.