The art of humility begins with a recognition of our dependence on other and an appreciation of God’s gift of life.
A man becomes humble when he sees himself in imagination standing naked, helpless and alone at the dawn of man’s creation.
When he realizes that millions of men, in thousands of battles, have given their lives to make him free.
When he was aware of the enormous debt owes to others who who have laboured though the ages to fashion the world he lives in. When he acknowledges that he is the heir of infinite riches he did not create.
When he considers how little he knows of all there is to know.
When he understands how the philosopher Will Durant felt., when he wrote on his seventy-fifth birthday: “ I feel like a drop of water trying to understand the ocean.”
When he stands under the stars at night and meditates on his insignificance compared with the vast reaches of the universe.
When he measures his inadequacy in the face of the multitude of undone tasks that face mankind.
When he ponders the miracle of his own body,which,without , his conscious thought, controls heartbeat and respiration, digests food, compounds chemicals, renews cells. Combats disease, heals wounds, maintaining the equilibrium of his intricate physical being.
Because he knows so little about so much he becomes teachable, open-minded and flexible. He never stops growing.
Because he realizes his own limitations he becomes more tolerant and understanding of others.
Because he is grateful for the immeasurable contributions others have made to his life he is not blinded by arrogance and pride.
He has greater vision because his ego does not get in his way.
He discovers that those of a gentle spirit do have the earth for their possession: that humility opens the gates of the mind and heart so greatness can flow through.
Written by Wilfred Peterson in 1960.
