1.5.3 – Humilitas to Fend Off Superbia

Humilitas – humbleness; humility (Bee); lowness (position/rank); shortness; submissiveness
– Latin-Dictionary.net

Sidenote: Does anyone know what the “Bee” reference is up there next to humility? I couldn’t figure it out, so please let me know your thoughts on that annotation!

Other translations include humble, grounded, and “from the earth” as it is a derivative of the word humus which translates to earth, ground, or soil.

But What Does It Mean to Be Humble? What is Humility?

Humility – quality of having a modest or low view of one’s importance
– Lexico

The word “low” here carries with it a negative connotation, but it’s not meant that way. Rather, the intent is to demolish the pedestal one may put oneself on – the pedestal for better or worse effect – to gather a realistic picture. Modesty isn’t about demeaning the self but about recognizing the value of others.

There’s a whole world out there to appreciate!

Humility… centers on low self-preoccupation.
– Wikipedia

So humility isn’t about depreciating yourself or thinking that you’re not enough. Rather, it’s about knowing that others have value. Or, as one evangelical puts it:

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.
– Rick Warren, The Purpose-Driven Life

How Is Humility Implemented?

The general notion is recognizing the inherent value in all humans regardless of who they are. Regardless of whether it’s one of the cool kids, someone you know in passing, or someone you prefer to avoid, every person inherently has dignity and should be treated with respect.

I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.
Albert Einstein
As attributed by his colleague Leopold Infeld in Quest: and Autobiography

To reiterate, this means you, too. We are called to not only treat others with respect, but ourselves as well. We human beings, created in the image and likeness of God, are worthy of dignity. As a result, we are called to treat others and ourselves well.

What Humility Is Not

Humility is an outward expression of an appropriate inner, or self regard, and is contrasted with humiliation which is an imposition… of shame upon a person.
– Wikipedia

We are not called to humiliate anyone – ourselves included. God doesn’t want any of His beloved children living in shame – including you, your obnoxious coworker, or even your grade school bully. (Yeah, that’s right – even them!) Instead, humility is to recognize that we’re all on equal footing as people, that God loves all of us equally, and that God wants all of us to play kindly with each other and return to Him.

Short Story on Humility

New England (and most of the United States) was treated to a hefty snow storm the past few days. In some parts of the country, the getting-to part of Thanksgiving feasts was delayed; in my region, the returning-to-normalcy was delayed. And it’s the first snow of the season that we expect to stick!

I drove back from my visit a day and a half early, then hunkered down in my room for the next… erhm, approximately 50 hours. (I left in short spurts, basically restroom and kitchen runs.) Last night, I decided that I was going to wake up early to clean the driveway. And then, it hit me: I’ll clean off all of the cars! I’ll make life so much easier on my housemates!

We got eighteen inches of powder. I was in the driveway within fifteen minutes of waking up – just enough time to make tea for when I came back inside – and shoveling away. Shovel, shovel, shovel. It’s a great work out and, other than the bending, I was enjoying it thoroughly.

I finish the driveway and run in for some water – not tea as my workout demands I consume something cool – and hear someone clearly concerned: she needs help. Nothing major on my part, just time consuming – driving her to an appointment. I help out with that, then get back to shoveling, working on the path to the driveway and a space for house pups. Just as I remembered that I had another car to clean off, I straighten my back, and it rebels.

Oooooof.

Nothing else is happening without a shower. So I break for a shower and breakfast, but I’m physically exhausted, so as much as the shower helped my back, my body still wants nothing to do with moving. The last car isn’t happening.

I keep thinking that it’s happening, but it’s clearly not. And that car, it just so happens, belonged to the person I asked to help with the pick-up of the person I dropped off because the appointment ran much longer than expected. And even when I was frustrated at having to ask for help, I forgot. And even if I hadn’t, I physically wouldn’t have been able to: I’d spent myself on everything else without the forethought of cleaning off the cars is probably more important than making sure the dogs have room to roam.

My friend didn’t expect me to clean off her car for her, but I expected it of myself. So when she was telling me that she forgot to account for time to clean off her car, I felt my ears droop because I should have done that. I spent two solid hours shoveling, and instead of being content with what I was able to do, I was thinking I should have done more.

Why? I’m not a super hero. Why didn’t I set a more realistic expectation of what I should have been able to do? Probably a mix of enthusiasm, the desire for a lofty goal, and pride. Thankfully, unbeknownst to her, my friend put it back in perspective in the way she relayed the situation as part of a larger scene with several moving variables.

Regardless, I’d have saved myself from a fair bit of self-frustration if I’d had the humility to simply set a more manageable goal, or even just to plan out the order of the work flow so the critical parts would still be complete even if I had to stop early.

Summary

Humility is about recognizing the value of others, not by demeaning ourselves, but by seeing each one of us as creatures of the Divine Creator, a beloved child of God. We are all worth dignity and respect, and we should take the time to recognize the value of others.

[A humble man] will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.
– C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

What do you think? How have you seen humility in yourself or others? Let us know in the comments!