Steve Frey
Humility is a character trait that is sometimes forgotten in the age of “I’m the best.”
You know… “I’ve got the best ideas,” “Only I can solve the problem,” “I’ve got a bigger nuclear button than you do,” and so on. Some people like to brag and boast, and others actually admire the feeling of power the person seems to convey.
They forget that sometimes the people with the most power and influence are the most humble, and that quality is respected much more than showing off, bragging and boasting about oneself.
In the Christian church, this is Holy Week leading up to Easter, the most important day in the church year, since it is the commemoration of the Risen Christ.
Of course, most people know all about Good Friday and Easter, but sometimes lost in the shuffle is tomorrow, Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday. That day should be remembered also because it is associated with a great illustration of the importance of humility.
On Maundy Thursday, Jesus had the Last Supper with his apostles, observing Passover. At some point during the evening, he got down on his knees and humbly washed their feet. He then commanded them to do the same for each other. According to John’s gospel, he said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” That’s where Maundy came from, “Maundy” being an abbreviated form of mandatum, which in Latin means, “command.”
In many churches, as part of the Holy Thursday service, the minister will reenact Christ’s actions by washing the feet of people in the congregation. Sometimes they will do it elsewhere, for the poor or sick.
The lesson is that we are reminded to humble ourselves and to serve others, “to love one another.”
It is often those who are the most humble who change the world, no matter what field or occupation.
We see that in the business world all the time. If you are in a leadership role, you have certainly heard of Servant Leadership. It is the philosophy that the best leaders go out of their way to facilitate the work of, or to serve, their employees.
Yes, they still make hard decisions, but they see their role as one of support and assistance putting the “team” ahead of their own authoritarian power.
By doing this, the employees feel more a part of the organization and are committed to its goals. The leader is respected for her willingness to listen and help the employees by being less rigid and controlling—to be humble—and the employees feel empowered and valued. In this way, the organization excels, and this kind of leader develops respect and loyalty not by demanding it, but by earning it through words and actions.
Another attribute of humility is being able to admit mistakes. For example, I have a bad habit of calling Riverview Park, Riverside Park. I don’t know why, since I go by it on the way to 81 and visit it all the time! Sorry friends of Riverview, it must be some kind of mental block!
The point is, it is good to be able to admit when you are wrong, and though it may be humbling, it is honest and most people appreciate it.
We all make mistakes. Remember that quote by Alexander Pope, “To err is human, to forgive divine.”
A familiar example of a person who lived a humble life of hard work and service was Mother Teresa. As a nun from Albania, she took a vow of poverty and service, but she went farther.
She devoted her life to working with the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta, India. In many cases, she and her Missionaries of Charity were the only ones willing to sit with the dying leper, the starving child and many thousands who were destitute and had no one else.
She took the model of Jesus washing the feet of the apostles and applied it to her own life, literally.
Father Damien, who worked with lepers in the colony in Hawaii; Gandhi, who gave up material wealth to better lead the people of India; Mary Slessor, who became a missionary in Nigeria; there are so many people who chose humility and a life of service to others.
You don’t have to look hard though, to find people who help others without the need for recognition. They are right in our community.
They are hospice workers who hold the hands of those near death late into the lonely night. It’s the nurse who stays a little longer with a frightened patient who doesn’t have visitors.
It’s a teacher who spends hours of extra time to find a way to reach a child. They are police officers that automatically go to a scene to help, not knowing what they will face. It could be a school employee who reassures an abused child and calls social services to protect him.
Some of our most heroic, decorated soldiers are reluctant to talk about their exploits except in the most solemn and brief manner possible.
There are the firefighters who go into a burning building to save a child and quietly walk away. There is the coach who stops a killer and the next school day simply goes on with his work. In every case, these humble heroes will often say, “I was only doing my job.”
They volunteer at lunch programs for the poor, the backpack program that provides children with food on weekends or the hospital. All of these people have humbly accepted the command to “love each other.”
They aren’t looking for praise. They aren’t bragging about how helpful they are. They just see a need and want to do something to help others.
We should not forget the mom who works two jobs to put food on the table or the dad who labors long, extra hours to provide a home for his family.
Then there are the grandparents who sometimes step in and accept the added job of raising their grandchildren in the absence of parents.
These moms, dads, and grandparents humbly do their best, day after day, not for monetary gain or recognition, but because of love.
We need more humility and less bragging; more helping and less threatening; more service and less focus on material gain.
Our children need to see people who are examples of modesty, who have a strong work ethic and who exhibit compassion. These are the types of role models who are most respected in the long run.
Fortunately, we have those people out there in our community, but we also need to teach our children about others in sports, government, on television, in movies, and elsewhere who would lead them to believe that greatness is found in how loud you can boast, or how well you can put others down. That is not greatness, and the person’s influence does not endure.
On Maundy Thursday, Jesus modeled for the apostles the importance of serving each other and loving one another.
We don’t have to go to India or Africa to selflessly serve others; we can do that right here in this community in our own homes, businesses, churches, hospitals, civic organizations, and schools.
Just imagine how wonderful our world would be if everyone heard that simple command to “love one another,” and did.
Steve Frey is a writer and CEO of Ascendant Educational Services based in Radford.
