Friday, February 1, 2008

Humility

Lent is on the way, beginning with Ash Wednesday on February 6. In Lent, many people give up something or take on something. I'll say more about that in a later blog entry, but now is the time to begin thinking about what that might be.

On Ash Wednesday we are told: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." If we really think about that, humility will set in. Here is a word of wisdom from Thomas Merton's Thoughts in Solitude:

Humility is a virtue, not a neurosis. It sets us free to act virtuously, to serve God and to know Him. Therefore true humility can never inhibit any really virtuous action, nor can it prevent us from fulfilling ourselves by doing the will of God.

Humility sets us free to do what is really good, by showing us our illusions and withdrawing our will from what was only an apparent good.

A humility that freezes our being and frustrates all healthy activity is not humility at all, but a disguised form of pride. It dries up the roots of the spiritual life and makes it impossible for us to give ourselves to God.



In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

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