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<\/a>Mike, one of the humblest guys in the group, spoke about humility. I took a picture of Mike leading the meeting. Is it significant that the image is out of focus, so that you can\u2019t make Mike out very well? He is the middle blur at left. Humble of him to project such an image, huh?<\/p>\nMike took as his text a short book titled The Power of Humility <\/i>by Canice Bourke, OFM. The conversation it sparked was one of our best, in which several people asked good questions and\/or offered excellent insights into humility, what Fr. Bourke calls \u201cthe foundation of all other virtues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike himself started off with a good point. \u201cIf I fail at other virtues,\u201d he said, \u201cit\u2019s usually pretty easy to detect. If I get angry, if I overeat\u2014I know it right away. A failure of humility is hard to detect.\u201d Mike makes his living primarily as a substitute teacher in local school systems, including our parish school. He lives simply, taking care of his elderly mother. I think of him as the humblest of men, and I mean that as a compliment, of course. But Mike spoke convincingly of his failures of humility while teaching, standing in front of \u201cthe kids\u201d and finding that pride waits for him \u201cin ambush.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jonathan usually has a very fine intellectual grasp of matters discussed, and when I raised the stark contrast between the Christian ideal of humility and the modern psychological ideal of self-esteem, he parsed that as a \u201cpsychological\u201d problem, not a religious one. Jonathan usually talks too fast and smart for my pen, so that\u2019s my one note on his contribution.<\/p>\n
As usual, some of the best exchanges involved Ferde, our outgoing president (Patrick takes over at the next meeting, January 2), and Bob, a former seminarian and now the father of three. Ferde said that he thought the first step to humility is \u201cremoving pride.\u201d Bob interjected that the first step, \u201cas always, is begging<\/i>.\u201d My pal Ferde had a pretty good rejoinder to that: \u201cOK, I\u2019ll be humble this time. Have it your way, Bob.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ten minutes later, when Bob went off on a good long jag about the \u201cline in the sand\u201d between confidence (a virtue) and arrogance or pride (a sin), Ferde finally stopped him with \u201cOK, Bobby, now you\u2019re filibustering! Keep reading, Mike!\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank G. and Frank K. are the two senior members of our group. I think of them as the Italian sausage and the Polish sausage. The Polish Frank sat quiet for most of the meeting, after a week spent flat on his back in the hospital. But near the end of the meeting, he piped up: \u201cIn all this discussion, has anyone mentioned obedience<\/i>?\u201d No one had <\/i>mentioned obedience, so, led by Frank, who said that Christ\u2019s ministry began in obedience to his parents, we talked some about where and how obedience and humility intersect with pride.<\/p>\n
The meeting was soon at a close, though not without the Italian Frank\u2019s closing prayer, offered each week:<\/p>\n
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who prowl through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen. <\/i><\/p>\n
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