Defining Humility, Part 2: The Words of Our Savior and the Tradition of the Church

In the previous post on defining humility, I tried to tackle the concept as it may appear when "lived out."  Humility, it seems to me, is a very misunderstood virtue, such that we can often pass by occasions to exercise it without recognizing them.  Even when we do try to live out humility, we often take it to some extreme or other.  In "Part 1" I also suggested that there is a difference between beliefs and instincts.  What I meant by making a distinction between these terms is that beliefs are ideas that we give our rational assent to, for example, when someone asks us what we think or when we have an opportunity to reflect on the words of others or events in our lives.  There is a certain distance between our beliefs and our first reactions.  When I use the term "instinct," at least in this case, what I mean is the immediate reaction or tendency we have when certain circumstances present themselves.  My belief is that I am no better than anyone else.  Nevertheless, my instinct when I feel slighted is to lash out in my thoughts at everyone I think I should "beat" in life.  The time it takes me to realize that my thoughts do not represent what I accept as true about myself is the difference between my beliefs and my instincts. 

One purpose of this blog is for me to work on reducing the divide between belief and instinct--or between belief and action--for myself, and to further make an argument that Christians (or all people of integrity, for that matter) should be concerned with enacting this process in their own lives.  The good news is that instinct, in the sense that I mean it, can be trained.  The best place to start improving ourselves through humility, however, is to make sure we are starting with the right beliefs about humility.  Last time we tackled some common misconceptions.  Here we will examine some positive definitions and classifications for humility from the wisdom of Christ and the Church.  St. Thomas Aquinas, the medieval theologian and philosopher, argues within the tradition of Catholic thought and Western philosophy in general that there are four cardinal virtues that govern our moral actions:  fortitude, justice, prudence, and temperance.  Other virtues are classified under the headings formed by these four terms.  Humility finds itself associated with temperance as a virtue that acts against the inordinate desires we might experience.  Other virtues found under the heading of temperance may be seen to fight against specific inordinate movements, such as the virtue of meekness opposing an irascible temper.  Humility is specifically opposed to pride.  As such, it means to have a modest (or simply true) sense of self-worth as opposed to an inflated sense.

Humility is not the most essential virtue in the spiritual life, however, because it is the infusion of faith (the first theological virtue) by God that allows us to enter into spiritual life in the first place.  What humility does is to prepare us for this infusion to take effect.  Jesus gave a parable of seed that is spread across the ground:  some on the path, some in the rocks, and some among thorns.  "But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold" (Matthew 13:8).  If we attach the virtues of faith and humility to this story, the seed represents the faith that God (the sower) offers.  This seed is potent in itself, but needs fertile ground in which to take root.  Humility (from the Latin for "earth" or "ground") would refer to the condition of the soil--or perhaps better, to the process of conditioning the soil--for accepting the seed of faith.  Farmers till the soil (except my Dad, but that is another story) because they know how important it is to have the ground prepared to receive the seed and give it its best chance to succeed.  This concept is what the practice of humility should be for us.  We prepare ourselves through humility to give our faith a place to grow tall and strong.

Unlike the metaphor of the seed and ground, the field of humility can be worked on and better prepared even when faith is already growing.  In fact, it is possible to say that living a spiritual life means a constant return to this field to make sure our faith is getting the nutrients it needs (ok...dropping the plant/field metaphor now).  If we have done a good job of this, our beliefs will have become our instincts and it will be less and less frequent that we regret our first reactions to the situations we face in life.  Humility is a tool of the spiritual life, nothing more or less.  Nonetheless, it is a very powerful tool indeed. 


Please feel free to comment with your own thoughts about the idea of belief vs. instinct, the definition of "humility," the parable of the field, or whatever is on your mind.  Thank you for reading!