The competency trap: just because you're a great hockey player doesn't mean you're a good basketball player.
The fundamentals are different, and ego control is everything.
#humility
The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s readings give us a little instruction on the virtue of humility. Humility is the virtue that reminds us that God is God and we are not. That might seem pretty obvious, but I think if we’re honest, we’d all have to admit that we have trouble with humility from time to time. The deadly sin that is in opposition to humility is pride, and pride is perhaps the most common sin, and really the most serious sin. We might think of all kinds of other sins that seem worse, but pride completely destroys our relationship with God because it convinces us that we don’t need God. That was the sin of the Israelites building the golden calf in the desert, it was the sin of the Pharisees arguing with Jesus, it was even the sin of Lucifer in the first place, and it is the sin of all of us, at some level, at some times in our lives.
Pride is pretty easy to recognize when it’s blatant: it is the person boasting of their abilities or their possessions or their accomplishments or status, claiming all the glory for themselves, putting others down in the process, and never even mentioning God. But that’s not the only face of pride. Another face of pride realizes that we are in a sorry state, but doesn’t want to bother God with our problems so we try to figure them out ourselves. It never works, and so we continue to feel miserable, but we also offend God in the process. A similar face of pride looks to accomplish something important, maybe even something holy. But we go about it without immersing it in prayer and forge ahead with our own plans. Again, we often fail at those times, and we certainly offend God.
The only antidote to pride is the virtue of humility. Humility is the way of living that accepts the difficulties and challenges of life as an opportunity to let God work in us. It is the state of being that admits that everything we are and everything we have is a gift from God, and spurs us to profound and reverential gratitude for the outpouring of grace that gets us through every day and brings us to deeper friendship with God.
So today we hear the very familiar Beatitudes. I know that when I was learning about the Beatitudes as a child, they were held up as some kind of Christian answer to the Ten Commandments. I don’t think that’s particularly valid. One might say, however, that the Ten Commandments are a basic rule of life and the Beatitudes take us still deeper.
I also remember thinking, when I was learning about the Beatitudes, that these seemed like kind of a weak way to live life. I mean, who can live up to all these things anyway? And who would want to? Do you know anyone who would actively seek to be poor, meek or mourning? And who wants to be a peacemaker? Those people have more than their share of grief.
So I think when we hear the Beatitudes today, we need to hear them a little differently. We need to hear them as consolation and encouragement on the journey. Because at some point or another, we will all be called upon to be poor, meek and mourning. That’s just life. And the disciple has to be a peacemaker and seek righteousness. We will have grief in this lifetime – Jesus tells us that in another place. So what Jesus is saying here, is that those of us undergoing these sorts of trials and still seeking to be righteous people through our sufferings are blessed, even happy.
So does anyone really believe that? I mean, it’s quite a leap of faith to engage our sufferings and still be sane, let alone happy. The ability to see these Beatitudes as true blessings seems like too much to ask. And yet, that’s what we disciples are being asked to do.
I think a good part of the reason why this kind of thinking is hard for us, is that it’s completely counter-cultural. Our society wants us to be happy, pain-free and without a concern in the world. That’s the message we get from commercials that sell us the latest in drugs to combat everything from indigestion to cancer – complete with a horrifying list of side-effects. That’s the message we get from the self-help books out there and the late-night infomercials promising that we can get rich quick, rid our homes of every kind of stain or vermin, or lose all the weight you want in just minutes a day. That’s the message we get from Oprah, Dr. Phil, and Joel Osteen and their ilk, who encourage us never to be second to anyone and to do everything possible to put ourselves first. If this is the kind of message we get every time we turn on a television, or surf the internet, who on earth would want to be poor in spirit? Who would want to be meek? Who would even think to hunger and thirst for righteousness?
Now this is an important point: Pride is just the way we live, culturally speaking. We are always right, and if we’re not, we certainly have a right to be wrong. We can accomplish anything we set out to do, and if we fail, it was someone else’s fault. We don’t need anyone’s help to live our lives, but when we’re in need, it’s because everyone has abandoned us. We are culturally conditioned to be deeply prideful people, and it is absolutely ruining our spiritual lives.
Jesus is the One who had the most right of anyone to be prideful. He is God, for heaven’s sake – I mean, he really could do anything he wanted without anyone’s help. But he chose to abandon that way of living so that we could learn how to live more perfect lives. He abandoned his pride and in humility took on the worst kind of death and the deepest of humiliation.
So what if we started to think the way Jesus does? What would happen if we suddenly decided it wasn’t all about us? What would happen if we decided that the utmost priority in life was not merely taking care of ourselves, but instead taking care of others, trusting that in that way, everyone – including ourselves – would be taken care of? What would happen if we were not completely consumed with ourselves and so did not miss the opportunity to come to know others and grow closer to our Lord? That would indeed be a day of great rejoicing and gladness, I can assure you that.
And I’m not saying you shouldn’t take care of yourself. We all need to do that to some extent, and maybe sometimes we don’t do that as well as we should. But when we consume ourselves with ourselves, nothing good can come from it. Maybe this is a kind of balance that we could spend these weeks leading up to Lent striving to achieve.
Today’s Liturgy of the Word calls us to a kind of humility that remembers that God is God and we are not. It is the only real antidote to the destructive, deadly sin of pride that consumes our society and us on a daily basis. This isn’t some kind of false humility that says we are good for nothing, because God never made anything that was good for nothing. Instead, it is a humility that reminds us that what is best in us is what God has given us. As St. Paul says today, “God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.” If we would remember that everything that we have and everything we are is a gift to us, if we would remember that it is up to us to care for one another, if we would remember that being consumed with ourselves only makes us feel worse than ever, if we would but humble ourselves and let God give us everything that we really need, we would never be in want. Blessed, happy are we; rejoice and be glad!
#humility #pride
We are all Donald Rumsfeld. His infamous remark about "unknown unknowns" contains lessons about hubris and humility.
https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/life-lessons/2023/06/donald-rumsfeld
Discover the moving moment when Mary anointed Jesus' feet. A story of humility, love, and true devotion. #BibleStories #Faith #Inspiration #Devotion #Jesus #Mary #Humility
Verse of the Day: Humility - Mark 9:35
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
#humility
The Last Days Of Pompeii, James Hamilton
Seems like maybe the last hours of Pompeii. The organization of this is so good. Love the dirty chaotic feel of it, but especially the column with statue, maybe a saint or philosopher or something, backlit by the explosion of the mountain.
#art #volcano #rising #impending #coming #erupting #humility #power #destruction #doom #closure #shutDown
A quotation from Marcus Aurelius
Do not forget you are like the rest of the world, and faulty yourself in a great many instances: that though you may forbear from some errors, it is not for want of inclination, and that nothing but cowardice, vanity, or some such base principle hinders you from sinning.
[καὶ αὐτὸς πολλὰ ἁμαρτάνεις καὶ ἄλλος τοιοῦτος εἷ: καὶ εἴ τινων δὲ ἁμαρτημάτων ἀπέχῃ, ἀλλὰ τήν γε ἕξιν ἐποιστικὴν ἔχεις, εἰ καὶ διὰ δειλίαν ἢ δοξοκοπίαν ἢ τοιοῦτό τι κακὸν ἀπέχῃ τῶν ὁμοίων ἁμαρτημάτων.]
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 11, ch. 18 (11.18) (AD 161-180) [tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/marcus-aureleus/8169…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #marcusaurelius #marcusaureliusmeditations #humility #humbleness #error, fear #motivation #selfawareness #selfevaluation #selfrestraint #shame #sinfulness
An Incredible Honor: Rihanna Has Renamed Herself After A Sandwich At Her Favorite Deli
Stupidity Sorts Itself Out
What’s something you quietly judge people for I quietly judge people who confuse confidence with intelligence. They talk loud, plant their feet, and act like being sure makes them right. It doesn’t. It just makes them wrong with enthusiasm. Being wrong isn’t the issue. Everyone screws up. The problem is refusing to even entertain the idea that you might be wrong. That’s where stupidity really stretches out and gets comfortable. I don’t argue with these people. That’s a waste of […]https://ericfoltin.com/2026/01/27/stupidity-sorts-itself-out/
A quotation from Adlai Stevenson
True patriotism, it seems to me, is based on tolerance and a large measure of humility.
Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
Speech (1952-08-27), “The Nature of Patriotism,” American Legion Convention, Madison Square Garden, New York City
More about this quote: wist.info/stevenson-adlai-ewin…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #adlaistevenson #coexistence #diversity #humbleness #humility #patriotism #tolerance
The greatest friend of truth is Time, her greatest enemy is Prejudice, and her constant companion is Humility.
Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 158 (1820)
More about this quote: wist.info/colton-charles-caleb…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #cccolton #bias #eventuality #humility #prejudice #selfawareness #selfdiscipline #time #truth
A quotation from George Washington
Though in reviewing the incidents of my Administration I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence, and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest.
George Washington (1732–1799) American military leader, Founding Father, US President (1789–1797)
Letter (1796-09-17), "Farewell Address" [with J. Madison, A. Hamilton]
More about this quote: wist.info/washington-george/81…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #georgewashington #selfcriticism #selfassessment #retirement #administration #blame #error #fault #forgiveness #honestmistake #humility #mistake #oblivion #postmortem #president #review #selfdeprecation
If you love living out your faith through meaningful actions, Jesus’ Teaching on Serving Others: A Biblical Guide to Humility, Love, and Action offers practical guidance and timeless wisdom on serving with a humble heart, showing love in every deed, and making a real difference in the lives of others… Read here: https://two4avalon.com/blog/post/2347209/jesus-teaching-on-serving-others
#humility #kindness #helpingothers
DISCARDED - HUMILITY [OFFICIAL VISUALIZER] (2024) SW EXCLUSIVE
Stay Humble: The Virtue of Humility and Its Rewards #humility #character… https://ift.tt/DkfeiEC
KILLING SELFISHNESS: A 60-Minute Guide to Radical Personal Transformation
In an era defined by the “selfie,” “personal branding,” and the relentless pursuit of individual gratification, Christopher Foster’s book, “KILLING SELFISHNESS: A 60-Minute book that challenges your life for positive change,” arrives as a quiet but revolutionary manifesto. Most self-help books today promise to give you more...More details… https://spiritualkhazaana.com/killing-selfishness-personal-transformation/
#selfishness #selfcontrol #selfpride #humility #selfworth
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