Humility 101

Discussions of humily are fraught with danger, since once you talk about how humble you are, you already proved that you are anything but humble. Instead I'm going to discuss ways that God is helping me acquire this virtue. It's an uphill battle, but God never gives up on me.
St Paul says we should brag about nothing but the cross of Christ. so please indulge me while I brag about the itty bitty splinters of His cross which help me remember my place.
At the foot of the Cross.
1. Children
We all know how young children can embarrass us in public, and I have covered that many times. This time, I mean how an adolescent suddenly realizes that Mommy has feet of clay, and is anxious to bring out her hypocrisy in vivid detail. And the insights are dead-on. If I learn to listen when their observations are respectful, they can be opportunities for growth.
After all, the sting in any rebuke is the truth.

2. Money
Nothing brings you down to size faster than running out of money at the cashier. Or bouncing a check. Or wondering how you will meet your bills. Many of us are re-discovering the part of the Our Father where we ask God for our daily bread.
We should thank God for the opportunity to learn more trust in Him.

3. Age
As my daughters blossom into womanhood, I find my own looks waning. Bad hair days are more the norm than not, the battle of the bulge seems lost, and my knees complain more and more. I struggle with late onset diabetes.
Age reminds us that we have to care for the Temple of the Holy Spirit, but that it is only a temporary home. Our home is heaven.

4. Disorganization
A punishing schedule leaves you vulnerable to making foolish errors. Like being late for your daughter's bus. Like forgetting appointments, and losing keys. Like a disheveled appearance and a messy house.
We can offer our time to the Lord, and remember it's all a gift, begging Him to teach us to make good use of it.

to be continued. . .

On acquiring virtue

St. Francis de Sales
“[T]here are some virtues of universal application, and which should infuse their own spirit into everything. We have but rarely opportunities for the practice of courage, magnanimity, and great sacrifices. But every action of our daily life should be influenced by gentleness, temperance, humility, and purity. … Every station in life imposes some peculiar obligation; different virtues are incumbent upon a bishop, a prince, or a soldier –the wife has her duties and the widow hers, and although all should practice every virtue, still each should seek chiefly to advance in those peculiarly required by the state of life to which God has called him. … Amongst those virtues not especially involved by our position, we should cultivate the most excellent rather than the most showy…It is a good practice to select some particular virtue at which to aim ---not neglecting the others, but in order to give regularity and method to the mind.”
Introduction to the Devout Life
I remember reading that St. Francis had a violent temper in his youth, but conquered it so completely through daily confession (it's reputed he sometimes confessed three times daily) that by the time of his death he was known as mild mannered.
HT Mary Vitamin

Suffer from Self-Pity Attacks?

Here's a cure from a 1935 Home Economics book. It hit me right between the eyes!
"Then there are the people who are always sorry for themselves. They are 'so sensitive.' Their feelings are always being hurt. They are always being misunderstood. All of us can claim we are misunderstood if we want to be so selfish. For fundamentally that's what the matter is with the sensitive person. She has never learned to think of anything except in relation to herself. She needs a new interest, a new piece of work so big that it will take her out of herself. She needs to work so hard that she hasn't time nor energy to brood over slights and wrongs. Most of the time the slights are not intended anyway. People need to think less of themselves and more of the other person."
This quote reminds me of great advice offered by my dad when I was spending Christmas 1986 away from family in London. He told me to "Don't stay home and feel sorry for yourself, get out and help somebody, volunteer serving Christmas dinner to the elderly or the poor." Here's what I did. It was a wonderful Christmas, and no one had a pity-party!
HT Coffee Wife at The Walled Garden