Day 23 : 23 March
Hear our voice, O Lord, according to your faithful love.
Lectionary readings (Click the links to see the readings):
| Isaiah 65.17-21 | Psalm 30.8-12 | John 4.43-54 |
Mt Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Humility (cont.) extracted from: Joan Chittister. The monastery of the heart: an invitation to a meaningful life. Blue Bridge, 2011, ch. 21, pp. 169-186
… continued from yesterday
The first step of humility dispels
all notions of "merit theology."
We simply do not need to "earn" God—
in fact, we cannot earn God,
none of us,
not even the holiest among us.
The truth is, Benedict teaches,
we already have God
and we must not forget it.
We must simply recognise
that God is God—
and we are not.
We are not in control;
we are simply on the way
to recognizing God,
wherever God
may be found.
Humility tells us that God is with us
and within us
always.
The second step of humility
"is that we love not our own will …
rather we shall imitate by our actions
that saying of Jesus,
'I have come not to do my own will
but the will of the One who sent me.'"
The second step of humility
calls us to realize that God's will
is best for us,
whether we understand that will
when we are faced with it or not.
Humility teaches us that the God who is good
wishes me well and not woe,
that I am the dust
God has destined for the stars.
The second step of humility
says that the marrow of the spiritual life
lies in learning to trust the God
who created us.
The third step of humility
is that, for the sake of our growth,
we be willing to put ourselves
under the spiritual guidance
of others—
not to be chained for their use,
not to obey for the sake of "obeying,"
but for the sake of being led
to the very height of our own potential,
beyond our own present insights.
The third step of humility
instills within us that we must be willing
to receive spiritual direction.
continued tomorrow …
V. Sokolov. With the voice of the Archangel - Choir of the Patriarchal cathedral of the Epiphany, Moscow.
May God our Redeemer show us compassion and love. Amen.