Humility in Action

Humility is easy to talk about but difficult to live, which makes it all the more striking when we see it in action.

Such is the case with Sr. Evelyn Gregory, whose funeral mass and burial was today. Sr. Evelyn was a beloved spiritual director, formation director, principal, and teacher; a raconteur whose deadpan delivery of a quip was unparalleled; and a lover of poetry who, in her 90s, could still recite poems she had memorized in grade school. However, one particular memory unrelated to any of these characteristics will stay with me.

A couple of years ago, when she was living on second floor of the monastery, Sr. Evelyn slipped off the edge of a sofa onto the floor. Although she wasn’t injured, she wasn’t strong enough to lift herself back onto the sofa. Inexplicably, all the strongest sisters in the monastery happened to be away at the time, and so the prioress, Sr. Esther, enlisted my help. When the two of us were unable to lift her, Sr. Esther devised a plan: we would get a sheet under Sr. Evelyn and slide her over to a stairway bannister, which she could use to pull herself up. (The ingenuity of this plan helped me understand why wisdom and creativity are important qualifications for a prioress!) As we pulled Sr. Evelyn across the floor, she sailed along like a queen and pulled herself up without difficulty once she reached the bannister.

The remarkable thing about this episode is that Sr. Evelyn didn’t apologize for her predicament, protest that she didn’t need assistance, or show any signs of embarrassment. She accepted our help with dignity and gratitude and didn’t bemoan or try to hide her physical weakness. This humility made quite an impression on me, because giving up control isn’t easy. It is a sign of a deep spirituality and results from a lifetime of surrender to and trust in God, as well as trust in the love of one’s companions.

Walter Stanley Mooneyham said, “Love talked about is easily turned aside, but love demonstrated is irresistible.” The same can be said of humility. I’m grateful to Sr. Evelyn for giving me a beautiful demonstration of this trait, which is key to living with grace and gratitude.