I found this meditation at the end of the book title Humility Matters by Mary Margaret Funk (2005).In this meditation, I discover the words I was searching for so long in my Christian tradition.
Category Archives: Humility
Humility of Christ
It is found in the second chapter of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians:
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11 King James Version (KJV)
Humility
I just finished reading a book title Humility Matters by Mary Margaret Funk (2005) and I am trying to make a summary of my reading so it will help me to integrate its content.(p.180-185)
We Christians follow the way by imitating Christ who revealed to us how to live our human lives as we return to God.
Jesus of Nazareth stated, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him” (Jn 14:6-7)
In our tradition,
– We renounce all that is not contributing to the construction of the reign of God here and now.
– We take on the spiritual journey, living our life from our depths and in tune with our motivations, desires and passions. “We renounce the thoughts that, when unchecked lead us down the slope toward our afflictions: the classic afflictive thoughts of food, sex, things, anger, dejection, acedia, vainglory and pride.”
– We renounce our self-made thoughts of God, therefore we can know God as God is.
– We renounce the thoughts of our self, accepting the change from self centeredness to sacrifice on behalf others.
Suddenly develop what we call humility by replacing attachment to ignorance, illusion and greed. We begin to give importance to creation and celebrate life with our spiritual senses, awake and get involved in the Mystery. We begin to integrate our body, mind and soul into a single being. (Purity of Heart)
“To become humble is to embrace the human condition as it is and yet also to renounce attachments to any self-made illusions about that human condition.So comprehensive is this teaching that we may say that humility is for a Christian what enlightenment is for a Buddhist, realization for a Hindu, sincerity for a Confucian, righteousness for a Jew, surrender for a Muslim, and annihilation for a Sufi. Through the four renunciations, we come to purity of heart: the face of humility.”