Formation Notes 10 - Humility
It is time for another set! Only two more to go after this. I will be sad to see the end of them - it is so wonderfully invigorating to have something to ponder like this. But alas, I cannot remain a novice forever.
Humility - “the guardian and ornament of all the virtues” as described by Bonaventure [1]. This description is appropriate, for, without humility, other important virtues are lessened, as if poisoned by pride, arrogance or self-congratulations. Humility protects the other virtues from this infection and enhances their value.
Humility can be a difficult virtue to cultivate, or even to want to cultivate. The word ‘humility’ itself evokes notions of ‘humiliation’ and thus ideas of being brought to think less of oneself through shame, or of acting in a way that at least imitates that. Even the word ‘humble’ is tied up with ‘eating humble pie’, and no one wants to do that if they can help it.
It seems far more advantageous to be able to exhibit your value. You’re not going to progress in business or even succeed in a job interview if you can’t tout your abilities. And doesn’t humility require you to cultivate the idea that you aren’t ‘all that’? In a culture where so many people are suffering from low self-esteem as it is, humility doesn’t look all that appealing. Far more attractive are those things that make us feel better about ourselves. We are so often motivated by seeking praise and avoiding criticism. We want others to praise us, which swells our pride and we can thus feel ourselves to be good people. Similarly, when we receive criticism, it affects us. We can feel dejected, upset or angry as we are ‘put back in our place’ and reminded that we are not all-wonderful. Is that feeling of worthlessness humility? Because it isn’t all that nice.
So humility has had some pretty bad press. On the list of ‘virtues to cultivate’ humility has gone a bit awol. It’s not a buzz word anymore. Honesty? Sure. Integrity? Absolutely. Charity? Why not. Humility? . . .
It probably doesn’t help that most of us aren’t exactly sure what ‘humility’ entails.
Of course, as children we are taught not to boast, and nobody is a fan of hearing someone else blow their own trumpet. Australian society in particular is known for its self-depreciation - get too big for your boots and tall poppy syndrome will start having its effect. So feigning modesty isn’t too hard - it’s almost a necessary item in the Australian toolkit of conduct. So is that humility?
Well, perhaps it is one level of humility. Not boasting relates to an external humility. But we know that if we boasted, the chances are we would receive criticism for that, so we are still being fuelled by seeking praise and avoiding criticism. So there must be more to it.
Let’s look to how St Francis viewed and portrayed humility. Francis thought of himself as “nothing but a sinner”. [2] Similarly, in his Prayer of Thanksgiving he refers to “all of us wretches and sinners” who “are not worthy to pronounce [God’s] name”. [3] Brother Lawrence similarly describes the “sweet pain of the awareness of our unworthiness” and considered himself to be “the most wretched of men […] full of faults, flaws, and weaknesses”. [4]
Saint Francis also implied that the good we do comes from God, having stated in Admonition 17, “Blessed are you who are no more puffed up by the good which the Lord says and does through you than you are by what he says and does through others” and in the Rule of 1221, chapter xvii, “Seek to humble yourselves in all things, and do not glory in yourselves or rejoice inwardly, or exalt yourselves for the good words and works, or indeed and good which God sometimes says or does or works in you or through you.”
Brother Lawrence displayed a similar sentiment, as described in the book A Heart For God: Reflections On Practicing God's Presence: ‘When Brother Lawrence succeeded in a task, he gave God the credit. When he failed, he identified his faults and said, "I shall never do otherwise if You leave me to myself. It is You who must hinder my falling and mend what is amiss."’
So do we actually have to think of ourselves in such a way then, to truly possess humility? To give God all the credit and keep for ourselves only censure?
Looking to these holy people, it would seem that yes, humility does involve thinking of ourselves in a bad light. But to think of ourselves as sinners and wretches? Maybe this is my pride speaking, but to aspire to such apparent self-loathing seems unhealthy - or is it just today’s psychobabble telling us what is healthy and what is not that is casting a shadow over this virtue?
Perhaps these spiritual people meant exactly what they said. In the end, we are left we only what they wrote. We miss out on the thoughts and realisations that lead to those words; we miss out on the evolution of their spiritual understanding. Perhaps if we too knew what they knew and if we had attained the level of spiritual understanding that they had, those words would sit more comfortably with us too. It could be something akin to the Dunning-Kruger effect at work - where those who know the least are the most confident in their abilities and understanding, and those who know the most and truly grasp what is involved feel hideously underqualified and inferior. [5] Perhaps St Francis had such a great understanding of God and of the potential of the human spirit that he could recognise how atrociously he was falling short, or at least perceived himself to be. And perhaps the fact that so many of us feel uncomfortable with using such strongly negative language with regards to ourselves only shows how little we truly understand.
Alternatively, perhaps it is a case of context, and those terms were just more in line with the thinking of the day, or perhaps this way of thinking of oneself was a backlash against the mainstream philosophy of society at the time.
Or, perhaps it is a case of semantic misunderstanding. Perhaps the terms themselves had different connotations.
Whatever the situation, I can’t honestly approach the idea that you have to hate yourself a little bit (or a big bit) in order to live in humility, but neither do I think we can afford to ignore what these spiritual leaders had to say. We certainly aren’t beyond needing humility, and we certainly haven’t mastered it.
In my own prayerful reflections on humility, I have had one experience where I felt, fleetingly, that I understood. It is hard to describe now that that moment has passed, but I will endeavour to recall and express the sense I had at that time.
Rather than it being a case of “God is great; I am useless”, it is more a case of “God is all; I am nothing”. There’s quite a big difference there.
What it looks like these holy teachers are saying is that God is great while they, on the other hand are all things unworthy, wretched and sinful. But perhaps rather than a case of debasing ourselves, it is more a case of letting go of ourselves. As CS Lewis said, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” [6]
What is our ‘self’ after all? We build up stories about who we are, construct elaborate identities, which we then compare with the identities we receive and distort from others. It is how we define ourselves and how we separate ourselves - from others, and from God. It is our ego.
But who are we when we are sitting in the silence, quiet and still. All the stories fall away and we are left with . . . something undefinable. If we release our constructed identities and empty ourselves of our stories about who we are, we become more essential and more vast. That essential vastness lives in us always, but we obscure it.
This ego is a constructed and invented concept of ourselves. It is a misunderstanding of ‘self’ and, as such, it is flawed and liable to stumble. This could have rightly been the ‘I’ that St Francis referred to as ‘nothing but a sinner’. Yet underneath this ego is the vast and essential spirit of God. We so rarely recognise it, but nonetheless, it still shines through to direct us and inspire us with true goodness.
This explains how ‘we’, identifying with our ego, are nothing. And the spirit of God, our true self living within us, is all.
Humility is releasing our ego in preference for drawing closer to God within us.
If we do that, we are no longer threatened by crediting God with our good works, because we are able to recognise that anything truly good is an act of God, and that there is no need to feed the ego with credit, because the ego is nothing but an erroneous concept.
So humility does not call for a self-loathing, but a self-emptying - emptying ourselves of the ego and its craving for praise, recognition and congratulations, and its fear of rejection, criticism and infamy. As St Francis said, “It seems to me that I am not a Lesser Brother unless I am just as happy when they insult me and throw me out in shame, refusing that I be their prelate, as when they honour and revere me”. [7]
Christ is the pinnacle of humility to whom St Francis points, and in the Rule of Third Order, day 22, Christ is described as having “emptied himself”. Emptied himself of what? The phrase that follows says that He took “the form of a servant”. So we can read this as Jesus emptying himself of pride, position, longing for praise, fear of scorn - in short, of the ego.
When we are emptied of our ego, what we are left with is room to feel God living within us. While praise is always nice, if we are aware of God living in us, human praise does not look as valuable, nor influence us as much. That awareness of God within us is far more satisfying than any praise, and helps us realise that praise is a bit pointless really, since the part of us that wants praise (the ego) is not the source of our goodness.
The good within us arises from the Source that fuels every one of us. Our goodness is not unique to us, but springs from our God-centre, which we all share. If we could hold on to this awareness, then not only then would we not elevate ourselves, but we would also recognise the value of others and their own God-centre, and in so doing would be better able to “serve one another in humility”. [8]
So how do we actually live in humility? The only logical suggestion would be to live in Love (God is Love, after all). Rather than doing things out of hope for praise or fear of criticism, do things out of love. Rather than operate with the sacrificial attitude of a martyr, wherein we may secretly hold pride for our good deeds and resentment for those who do not appreciate us, it is better to endeavour to carry out our tasks and lives in the spirit of God’s love for others and in our love for God. It is no wonder then that humility is described as “the basis of all Christian virtues” and “the first condition of a joyful life within any community”, [9] for it is based on living in the spirit of Love, i.e. in the Spirit of God.
It takes practise to create a habit of humility. It must be cultivated consciously, actively and continually. It is not our actions that we alter, but our state of mind, our whole perception of ‘self’ and our relationship with God. Any resulting change of actions is the natural follow-on.
I do not live in this state continually, but I have been lucky enough to glimpse it, and as such I have an idea of what I am to aspire to at this time. Having said that, my understanding of humility may only be appropriate for where I am at the moment on my spiritual journey. Perhaps as I follow the path further, my understanding will develop and grow until I feel comfortable with St Francis’ description of himself and of us as “wretches”. God seems to only ever reveal the next step, never the whole path.
[1] Formation Notes 10, page 1
[2] As above
[3] www.ofm.org/francesco/pray/pray13.php
[4] www.practicegodspresence.com/brotherlawrence/practicegodspresence09.html
[5] www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/the-dunning-kruger-effect/3102360
[6] www.tentmaker.org/Quotes/humilityquotes1.htm
[7] Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, by Regis J Armstrong, William J Short, & JA Wayne Hellmann,
New City Press, 2001, p. 247
Accessed via: www.books.google.com
[8] Rule of The Third Order, day 22
[9] Rule of The Third Order, day 23
Humility - “the guardian and ornament of all the virtues” as described by Bonaventure [1]. This description is appropriate, for, without humility, other important virtues are lessened, as if poisoned by pride, arrogance or self-congratulations. Humility protects the other virtues from this infection and enhances their value.
Humility can be a difficult virtue to cultivate, or even to want to cultivate. The word ‘humility’ itself evokes notions of ‘humiliation’ and thus ideas of being brought to think less of oneself through shame, or of acting in a way that at least imitates that. Even the word ‘humble’ is tied up with ‘eating humble pie’, and no one wants to do that if they can help it.
It seems far more advantageous to be able to exhibit your value. You’re not going to progress in business or even succeed in a job interview if you can’t tout your abilities. And doesn’t humility require you to cultivate the idea that you aren’t ‘all that’? In a culture where so many people are suffering from low self-esteem as it is, humility doesn’t look all that appealing. Far more attractive are those things that make us feel better about ourselves. We are so often motivated by seeking praise and avoiding criticism. We want others to praise us, which swells our pride and we can thus feel ourselves to be good people. Similarly, when we receive criticism, it affects us. We can feel dejected, upset or angry as we are ‘put back in our place’ and reminded that we are not all-wonderful. Is that feeling of worthlessness humility? Because it isn’t all that nice.
So humility has had some pretty bad press. On the list of ‘virtues to cultivate’ humility has gone a bit awol. It’s not a buzz word anymore. Honesty? Sure. Integrity? Absolutely. Charity? Why not. Humility? . . .
It probably doesn’t help that most of us aren’t exactly sure what ‘humility’ entails.
Of course, as children we are taught not to boast, and nobody is a fan of hearing someone else blow their own trumpet. Australian society in particular is known for its self-depreciation - get too big for your boots and tall poppy syndrome will start having its effect. So feigning modesty isn’t too hard - it’s almost a necessary item in the Australian toolkit of conduct. So is that humility?
Well, perhaps it is one level of humility. Not boasting relates to an external humility. But we know that if we boasted, the chances are we would receive criticism for that, so we are still being fuelled by seeking praise and avoiding criticism. So there must be more to it.
Let’s look to how St Francis viewed and portrayed humility. Francis thought of himself as “nothing but a sinner”. [2] Similarly, in his Prayer of Thanksgiving he refers to “all of us wretches and sinners” who “are not worthy to pronounce [God’s] name”. [3] Brother Lawrence similarly describes the “sweet pain of the awareness of our unworthiness” and considered himself to be “the most wretched of men […] full of faults, flaws, and weaknesses”. [4]
Saint Francis also implied that the good we do comes from God, having stated in Admonition 17, “Blessed are you who are no more puffed up by the good which the Lord says and does through you than you are by what he says and does through others” and in the Rule of 1221, chapter xvii, “Seek to humble yourselves in all things, and do not glory in yourselves or rejoice inwardly, or exalt yourselves for the good words and works, or indeed and good which God sometimes says or does or works in you or through you.”
Brother Lawrence displayed a similar sentiment, as described in the book A Heart For God: Reflections On Practicing God's Presence: ‘When Brother Lawrence succeeded in a task, he gave God the credit. When he failed, he identified his faults and said, "I shall never do otherwise if You leave me to myself. It is You who must hinder my falling and mend what is amiss."’
So do we actually have to think of ourselves in such a way then, to truly possess humility? To give God all the credit and keep for ourselves only censure?
Looking to these holy people, it would seem that yes, humility does involve thinking of ourselves in a bad light. But to think of ourselves as sinners and wretches? Maybe this is my pride speaking, but to aspire to such apparent self-loathing seems unhealthy - or is it just today’s psychobabble telling us what is healthy and what is not that is casting a shadow over this virtue?
Perhaps these spiritual people meant exactly what they said. In the end, we are left we only what they wrote. We miss out on the thoughts and realisations that lead to those words; we miss out on the evolution of their spiritual understanding. Perhaps if we too knew what they knew and if we had attained the level of spiritual understanding that they had, those words would sit more comfortably with us too. It could be something akin to the Dunning-Kruger effect at work - where those who know the least are the most confident in their abilities and understanding, and those who know the most and truly grasp what is involved feel hideously underqualified and inferior. [5] Perhaps St Francis had such a great understanding of God and of the potential of the human spirit that he could recognise how atrociously he was falling short, or at least perceived himself to be. And perhaps the fact that so many of us feel uncomfortable with using such strongly negative language with regards to ourselves only shows how little we truly understand.
Alternatively, perhaps it is a case of context, and those terms were just more in line with the thinking of the day, or perhaps this way of thinking of oneself was a backlash against the mainstream philosophy of society at the time.
Or, perhaps it is a case of semantic misunderstanding. Perhaps the terms themselves had different connotations.
Whatever the situation, I can’t honestly approach the idea that you have to hate yourself a little bit (or a big bit) in order to live in humility, but neither do I think we can afford to ignore what these spiritual leaders had to say. We certainly aren’t beyond needing humility, and we certainly haven’t mastered it.
In my own prayerful reflections on humility, I have had one experience where I felt, fleetingly, that I understood. It is hard to describe now that that moment has passed, but I will endeavour to recall and express the sense I had at that time.
Rather than it being a case of “God is great; I am useless”, it is more a case of “God is all; I am nothing”. There’s quite a big difference there.
What it looks like these holy teachers are saying is that God is great while they, on the other hand are all things unworthy, wretched and sinful. But perhaps rather than a case of debasing ourselves, it is more a case of letting go of ourselves. As CS Lewis said, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” [6]
What is our ‘self’ after all? We build up stories about who we are, construct elaborate identities, which we then compare with the identities we receive and distort from others. It is how we define ourselves and how we separate ourselves - from others, and from God. It is our ego.
But who are we when we are sitting in the silence, quiet and still. All the stories fall away and we are left with . . . something undefinable. If we release our constructed identities and empty ourselves of our stories about who we are, we become more essential and more vast. That essential vastness lives in us always, but we obscure it.
This ego is a constructed and invented concept of ourselves. It is a misunderstanding of ‘self’ and, as such, it is flawed and liable to stumble. This could have rightly been the ‘I’ that St Francis referred to as ‘nothing but a sinner’. Yet underneath this ego is the vast and essential spirit of God. We so rarely recognise it, but nonetheless, it still shines through to direct us and inspire us with true goodness.
This explains how ‘we’, identifying with our ego, are nothing. And the spirit of God, our true self living within us, is all.
Humility is releasing our ego in preference for drawing closer to God within us.
If we do that, we are no longer threatened by crediting God with our good works, because we are able to recognise that anything truly good is an act of God, and that there is no need to feed the ego with credit, because the ego is nothing but an erroneous concept.
So humility does not call for a self-loathing, but a self-emptying - emptying ourselves of the ego and its craving for praise, recognition and congratulations, and its fear of rejection, criticism and infamy. As St Francis said, “It seems to me that I am not a Lesser Brother unless I am just as happy when they insult me and throw me out in shame, refusing that I be their prelate, as when they honour and revere me”. [7]
Christ is the pinnacle of humility to whom St Francis points, and in the Rule of Third Order, day 22, Christ is described as having “emptied himself”. Emptied himself of what? The phrase that follows says that He took “the form of a servant”. So we can read this as Jesus emptying himself of pride, position, longing for praise, fear of scorn - in short, of the ego.
When we are emptied of our ego, what we are left with is room to feel God living within us. While praise is always nice, if we are aware of God living in us, human praise does not look as valuable, nor influence us as much. That awareness of God within us is far more satisfying than any praise, and helps us realise that praise is a bit pointless really, since the part of us that wants praise (the ego) is not the source of our goodness.
The good within us arises from the Source that fuels every one of us. Our goodness is not unique to us, but springs from our God-centre, which we all share. If we could hold on to this awareness, then not only then would we not elevate ourselves, but we would also recognise the value of others and their own God-centre, and in so doing would be better able to “serve one another in humility”. [8]
So how do we actually live in humility? The only logical suggestion would be to live in Love (God is Love, after all). Rather than doing things out of hope for praise or fear of criticism, do things out of love. Rather than operate with the sacrificial attitude of a martyr, wherein we may secretly hold pride for our good deeds and resentment for those who do not appreciate us, it is better to endeavour to carry out our tasks and lives in the spirit of God’s love for others and in our love for God. It is no wonder then that humility is described as “the basis of all Christian virtues” and “the first condition of a joyful life within any community”, [9] for it is based on living in the spirit of Love, i.e. in the Spirit of God.
It takes practise to create a habit of humility. It must be cultivated consciously, actively and continually. It is not our actions that we alter, but our state of mind, our whole perception of ‘self’ and our relationship with God. Any resulting change of actions is the natural follow-on.
I do not live in this state continually, but I have been lucky enough to glimpse it, and as such I have an idea of what I am to aspire to at this time. Having said that, my understanding of humility may only be appropriate for where I am at the moment on my spiritual journey. Perhaps as I follow the path further, my understanding will develop and grow until I feel comfortable with St Francis’ description of himself and of us as “wretches”. God seems to only ever reveal the next step, never the whole path.
[1] Formation Notes 10, page 1
[2] As above
[3] www.ofm.org/francesco/pray/pray13.php
[4] www.practicegodspresence.com/brotherlawrence/practicegodspresence09.html
[5] www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/the-dunning-kruger-effect/3102360
[6] www.tentmaker.org/Quotes/humilityquotes1.htm
[7] Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, by Regis J Armstrong, William J Short, & JA Wayne Hellmann,
New City Press, 2001, p. 247
Accessed via: www.books.google.com
[8] Rule of The Third Order, day 22
[9] Rule of The Third Order, day 23