Humility

One of my classes this semester is Eastern Christian Spirituality and we are examining primary sources, translated into English thankfully, and delving into the depths of what constitutes Eastern Christian spirituality.  The Eastern Church, or Orthodox Church as it is more commonly known, is full of division much in the same way that the Anglican Church is divided among national lines but for the Eastern Church it is divided more along ethnic lines.  So the Greek Church, its liturgical customs, spiritual practices and theological understandings are not isolated to Greece alone but to those who self-identify as Greek.  Another example, not all Slavs are members of the Russian Church, but there are many smaller churches that correspond to ethnic identity, so there is a Serbian Church, a Bosnian Church, an Armenian Church, a Georgian Church.  Each church is independent and no other church/patriarch can tell another church what to do.  But just like the Anglican national churches they all share a common history and overarching traditions and practices.  I digress, so we started with the desert Mothers and Fathers that looked for unity with God in the desert wilderness.

The women and men who set out for the wilderness were looking for something that they could not find in the urban centers of the time.  They perceived the corruption that occurred in the cities and fled to the harsh wilderness of the desert to find the quiet thin places where someone can focus on their relationship with God and avoid the myriad of distractions that comes with urban living.  Through their actions they attracted others and soon small communities dedicated to ascetic living popped up and the heads of these communities of men and women were looked to for knowledge and spiritual growth.  What we have today, and what is very prominent in the Eastern traditions, is the sayings of these fathers and mothers.  Instead of passing down long narratives, it was simple sayings that were handed down from generation to generation.  At the heart of most of these sayings is the idea of humility.  They call for humility when dealing with the outside world.  They call for humility when dealing with each other within the community.  And they call for humanity in their relationship with God.

Humbleness, lowering ones own importance, is a trait that is often found lacking in our culture.  I was raised in a culture where individuality was emphasized and asserting ones dominant skills over others.  We are not humility, but instead encouraged to be better than others and to let them know.  Fortunately I was also raised in a faith community where those lessons were learned, or at least the seeds were planted to take root later.  As I pour over the sayings of the desert mothers and fathers they have a wisdom that is still relevant today and I wonder what it would be like if we were all a little more humble?  What would it be like if we lowered our own self-importance so that we could see the world from a different perspective?  If this is practiced in a church community would we be more welcoming if we deflate our own self-importance, as individuals and as a community of faith?  I don't have any answers but its got me thinking.