Humbleness

[Dream]

Could a humble man ever call himself 'humble' or would that break his humbleness?

 

[geocajun]

very deep DT.

 

[RhetorTheo]

"Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth." Numbers 12:3

If you believe in Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, then you have a problem....

 

[Benedicta00]

People do not really understand, including myself what humility really is. It is forgetting one's self. It is being happy with who you are, just the way you are. This is what was the turning point in St. Theresa life, it was when she accepted her littleness that she was at peace with herself. This is what it is to be humble. Not being so arrogant that you hate the person you are and complain about who you are.

We are all sinners and we all sin, you have to come to accept that. That is what it is to be humble.

 

[Benedicta00]

Could a humble man ever call himself 'humble' or would that break his humbleness?

No, because humility is knowing who and what we are in Christ. Humility is being at peace with God and self. Not thinking low of one’s self, that is arrogance and not true humility.

 

[de Unamuno]

On the previous point made about selflessness, I suppose a truly humble person wouldn't even think to reflect on their own humbleness, let alone proclaim it.

 

[DivineFiliation]

But a humbled person knows when they are humbled, that I must say.

 

[krstlros]

The thing with humility is that it is more of a state of being rather than of mind. Like all good charactoristics of a person, it doesn't take any effort to be who or what you are naturally are.

People who surround you see your goodness, you don't have to tout them, it's just there.

Mother Teresa showed her humility because she was humility personified. She didn't say "I am a humble person", she just was.

Humility takes no effort, it's just a part of who you are.

 

[DivineFiliation]

I tend to disagree... humility does take effort, if you naturally are not humble.

 

[Dream]

Interesting responses to a not-so-interesting thread.

 

[Benedicta00]

Humility does take effort- it’s a virtue where we must rid ourselves of vice which is pride to obtain the virtue which is humility. If we want to be humble, we have to practice being humble, to forget oneself and accept our faults and not have our happiness depend on how smart we are, how good we are, how rich we are…

It is loving yourself as God loves you, while you are still a sinner. It is acknowledging any gift we do have is what we have received from God and not anything we have done for ourselves. That we are loved by God not because we deserve to be.

 

[Metanoia02]

Don't forget that you are a... dust-bin. That's why if by any chance the divine Gardener lays his hands on you, and scrubs and cleans you, and fills you with magnificent flowers, neither the scent nor the colour that embellish your ugliness should make you proud.

Humble yourself: don't you know that you are the rubbish bin?

EDIT: These are the words of St Josemaria

 

[krstlros]

I don't know. I always thought of it as a beautiful garden full of weeds.

No matter how beautiful the flowers are, the garden still needs to be tended.

 

[ukok]

Don't forget that you are a... dust-bin. That's why if by any chance the divine Gardener lays his hands on you, and scrubs and cleans you, and fills you with magnificent flowers, neither the scent nor the colour that embellish your ugliness should make you proud.

Humble yourself: don't you know that you are the rubbish bin?

That's an excellent St. Josemaria Escriva quotation!



God Bless.

 

[Metanoia02]

That's an excellent St. Josemaria Escriva quotation!



God Bless.

Yes, we must never forget that we are the dust bin, not the flowers.

 

[Mystery5]

Interesting responses to a not-so-interesting thread.

How humble of you!!!

BTW, there is not word called 'humbleness' I believe. Humility is the word!!!

I think a humble person would not be tooting his/her own horn.

 

[Jamme]

Is a person who tries to be humble allowed to be mightily annoyed with others who have no humility whatsoever? Or is the fact that they are annoyed a reflection of the imperfection of their attempted humility?

 

[krstlros]

No one can have perfect humility, in my opinion. I think there was only one of those.

For me, a person with no humility lives in arrogance. That's something different. What annoys me is false humility. A truly humble person can spot one of those a mile away. And yet, the humble person would not point out the false humility of the other.

 

[Metanoia02]

Is a person who tries to be humble allowed to be mightily annoyed with others who have no humility whatsoever? Or is the fact that they are annoyed a reflection of the imperfection of their attempted humility?

You have just described pride. When we think of ourselves superior to others in virtue, as if we had anything to do with, that is pride.

 

[Jamme]

You are most likely correct.

So a person who abhors arrogance is guilty of pride. Okay...

The acceptance of another person's arrogance (especially when that arrogance affects or hurts a third party) does not seem right to me though. Perhaps I have to think harder about this issue.