The third chapter of Sirach includes a curious line: “For
great is the power of God; by the humble he is glorified.” Of all the
magnificent things God has created—galaxies, stars, seas, forests, mountains, music—it
is the humble who make God glorious?
How can this be?
Perhaps we can think of it this way: How many truly humble
people do you know? A handful, maybe? The earth is full of people who glory in performing
great athletic feats, creating amazing works of art, making lots of money, and
achieving positions of power, but as it turns out, humility is much more
difficult to achieve.
Humility requires acknowledging that everything we achieve
comes about as a result of the gifts God instilled in us—even the gifts of
discipline and motivation—along with the assistance of our teachers. The world
tells us that our self-worth comes from what achieve, seemingly on our own. The
humble are the few who have learned that our self-worth comes from being loved into
being by God and by participating in God’s life as it unfolds through us and
around us. Thus the humble truly do glorify God. May we be among their number!
No comments:
Post a Comment