Appropriate Smallness
The Practice of Humility
During the last six weeks I’ve looked
at the practices of solitude and the
discipline of humility.
What is humility? Here’s three
definitions of it.
St. Thomas Aquinas
described humility as “keeping within
one’s own bounds; not reaching out to
things above one.” St. Thomas perceives
humility in terms of space. It’s about
your boundaries. This is very similar to the Jewish
concept of humility.
The Jewish understanding is also spatial and is
defined as a question: “How much space
do you take up?” As beings we’re all
allotted a certain amount of space. We’re
to take up no more space than we are
due. Taking up more than our share of
space is arrogance and pride. Think
about expressions we use to describe
arrogance: “He’s too big for his
britches.” “She sure has a swelled head.”
We understand these things in terms of
space.
So humility is about appropriate
smallness. Notice it’s appropriate
smallness. Not too big, but also not too
small! You are a living being, and you’re
deserving of your place in the world.
You’re entitled to be who you are. In
fact, you’re called to be who you are.
This third definition of humility has
always stuck with me: “Being humble
doesn’t mean that you think less of
yourself; it means that you think of
yourself less.”
Humility, appropriate smallness, is a
place where we just stop thinking about
ourselves. Consider this. There’re two
alternatives to humility. The one
alternative is pride. In pride I am the
center of all my thoughts. The universe
revolves around me.
The other alternative is self degradation.
But this pathway is just as focused on
the self as pride. It’s just that pride sees
the self as so good, while self
degradation sees the self as so bad.
While pride walks around wanting to
make sure that everything living will see
my goodness, self degradation sulks
around, sure that everyone sees my
faults.
In both instances, self is the center of
attention. But humility simply forgets
itself.
The Practice of Humility
During the last six weeks I’ve looked
at the practices of solitude and the
discipline of humility.
What is humility? Here’s three
definitions of it.
St. Thomas Aquinas
described humility as “keeping within
one’s own bounds; not reaching out to
things above one.” St. Thomas perceives
humility in terms of space. It’s about
your boundaries. This is very similar to the Jewish
concept of humility.
The Jewish understanding is also spatial and is
defined as a question: “How much space
do you take up?” As beings we’re all
allotted a certain amount of space. We’re
to take up no more space than we are
due. Taking up more than our share of
space is arrogance and pride. Think
about expressions we use to describe
arrogance: “He’s too big for his
britches.” “She sure has a swelled head.”
We understand these things in terms of
space.
So humility is about appropriate
smallness. Notice it’s appropriate
smallness. Not too big, but also not too
small! You are a living being, and you’re
deserving of your place in the world.
You’re entitled to be who you are. In
fact, you’re called to be who you are.
This third definition of humility has
always stuck with me: “Being humble
doesn’t mean that you think less of
yourself; it means that you think of
yourself less.”
Humility, appropriate smallness, is a
place where we just stop thinking about
ourselves. Consider this. There’re two
alternatives to humility. The one
alternative is pride. In pride I am the
center of all my thoughts. The universe
revolves around me.
The other alternative is self degradation.
But this pathway is just as focused on
the self as pride. It’s just that pride sees
the self as so good, while self
degradation sees the self as so bad.
While pride walks around wanting to
make sure that everything living will see
my goodness, self degradation sulks
around, sure that everyone sees my
faults.
In both instances, self is the center of
attention. But humility simply forgets
itself.