Humility

Today's secret word is 'Humility'.

There was a story about Ben Franklin, one of America's greatest inventor and thinker, that I heard on the radio one time, while driving to work. He tried to become the most morally perfect person (for a brief time. You'll see why later.) He would write down his progress in his notebook, about the various deeds and things he did to achieve the moral perfection that he sought. Until, that is, he wrote about Humility: "In reality there is perhaps no one of our natural Passions so hard to subdue as Pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself...For even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my Humility."

It's a very funny word, and I would probably say one of the few words that is a paradox within its own name. Consider this: to give the character 'Humility' a name is precisely what it wants to avoid. A true humble person doesn't seek any popularity and, in fact, wishes to be nameless. How funny that we should create a name to something whose very definition doesn't want to be named. If Humility were really a person, it would try very hard to be noticed. By defining and naming that quality, you have rendered the very characteristic useless. Now you see the humor? No? Oh, maybe it's just me then.

Ok, how about this? A truly humble person never thinks about humility. As soon as you think about how humble you are, immediately you're proud, which is the antithesis of humility. It isn't a quality that you can boast about. For example, you can't say, "My best quality is my humility." Again, it means you are proud of the fact that you are um...not proud? However, someone else can say, "Look at this guy! What a humble guy!" But then, what happens? The person hearing it is immediately proud because someone has praised them! So, you can't even say it in front someone, lest they lose their humility.

And it's not something that can be desired either. You can't say, "I want to be a humble person." Because how can you tel you have reached your goall? If you seek praise from others for your humility, bam! You aren't humble again. It's a no-win situation. Plus on top of that, your motives for doing things have changed. Even performing "humbling" acts wouldn't be very humbling, because you are doing it for the sake of humility. And that defeats the purpose. Cleaning toilets, serving the homeless, even giving thanks to God may all seem like very humbling experiences, yet if you do them to serve yourself, it becomes meaningless. Look at athletes who win championships and medals, and then try to be self-effacing. "It wasn't me, it was my team, it was God who gave me the ability." These words become hollow and lose their meaning. It's what's expected of them to say so that the public won't think of them as arrogant pompous people. Do you know what a truly humble person would do? Well, I'm not sure, but I can definitely bet you they would not be giving interviews, that's for sure. They are the ones who quietly go to their locker room, without celebrating, without fanfare, and just disappear into anonymity.

Lastly, for a humble person, pursuing humility is the furthest thing on their minds. They don't do things because it looks like something a humble person would do. They don't talk about humility, they don't talk about pride, in fact, humility isn't even in their vocabulary. They don't even think about it at all. A humble person just exudes humility. It's in everything they do, whether it's raking the leaves or giving a speech. They don't actively run away from attention either. If it finds them, it's ok. If it doesn't, that's fine as well. Because if they actively try to hide, that means it's on their minds. And they especially do not try to analyze their actions or behaviors to see if it stems from pride because again, it shows that they care about being humble.

This is the meaning of humility. And yes, I'm well aware that since I have talked about it, I have broken the Brotherhood of The Humble's vow of secrecy. I have subjected myself to exile from that exalted order so that I can give you, my dear readers, special insight in what really goes on inside the Brotherhood. This is how much I treasure you!