Humility, Shame, and Power

AM Psalm 140, 142 • PM Psalm 141, 143:1-11(12)
Prov. 8:1-21 • Philemon 1-25 • John 12:9-19

A low drone note of humility grounds the readings today, whether the authors are straightforwardly advising humility to gain God’s presence and help or simply offering a cluster of extraordinary social/moral observations resonating in sympathy with this same note. Philippians places Christ’s work and final exaltation within His own sense of human humility. And Peter’s betrayal is spoken out into church history as if to remind us that humility speaks truth—and truth humility.

Humility is often confused with shame and so it may take time and practice to sort out. The Psalmist is clear that humility is a way out of the cycle of shame and arrogance. It is a way to truth, perhaps because truth is its way. Understandably, we fear humility will be humiliating, but it has no such interest, no such root, no such fruit. Humility is not just a heart thing, it is also a mind thing, a mind of Christ thing: it awakens us to our collective fragility and beauty—and the freedom to be curious about what we do not yet understand. Humility does not put us in our place or make us sit in a corner—it gets us out of these places.

Humility is a beginning: a first breath of strange air—strangely fresh air. It soon leads out into new worlds—taking unique forms in everyone’s unique life—maybe curiosity, gratefulness, awe, transformation, or even science and art. This fresh, different air supports new questions, more genuine observations, is comfortable with complexity and other points of view—at first a little scary, then confusing, finally opening up into wonder, and the peculiar intelligence and power we call wisdom.

Written by David Orth

Enjoyed Peter Brook’s The Empty Space—a book of wisdom on theater and life.