When You're Really Humble There's No Mistaking It
Our Stability Project continues with St. Benedict's "Degrees of Humility" as laid out in his Rule. We've reached the final 12th degree of humility. It first summarizes how the humble man will appear to others. Then it shows us how we will be changed.
We might imagine, as we study St. Benedict's words, how not only we may change, but how conditions in the workplace may change were humility to take root. Again, our hope is that by so grounding our daily labors in the expert guidance
this masterwork provides we will foster stability in our workplace. It's a stability characterized by calmness and peace in the midst of whatever raging storms the world might bring to our spiritual shore. In addition, I think we'll also see overall improvement in our business results.
With that in mind, let's consider the final 12th degree of humility:
"...that a monk should not only be humble of heart, but should also in his behaviour always manifest his humility to those who look upon him. That is to say, that whether he is at the Work of God, in the oratory, in the monastery, in the garden, on the road, in the fields, or anywhere else, and whether sitting, walking, or standing, he should always have his head bowed and his eyes downcast, pondering always the guilt of his sins, and considering that he is about to be brought before the dread judgement seat of God. Let him constantly say in his heart what was said with downcast eyes by the publican in the Gospel: 'Lord, I a sinner am not worthy to raise mine eyes to heaven'; and again with the prophet: 'I am bowed down and humbled on every side'."
First note that, for monks, humility will manifest itself everywhere in everything they do, whether at prayer or at work, in the monastery or outside of it. We need to heed this advice in our circumstances. So while we've been looking at humility as a means to build stability in the workplace, it's important that we understand that an increase in personal humility will permeate our entire life. Makes sense, right? Humility isn't something we imitate. We don't put it on like a suit or a shirt. It's a virtue. Like all the virtues, it moves us away from the ways of this world towards the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. We grow closer to God. We become better husbands, fathers, friends; and, of course, better workers.
As for having our head bowed and eyes downcast, I think we can make a reasonable adjustment here since we're not monks, not living in a monastery. In any workplace I've labored, such a physical appearance would likely be seen as a bit weird. At the very least, though, if we're strutting around like a peacock, or aggressively barreling ahead to show how "driven" we are, or barking at our employees to show we're "in charge," it's time to curtail or eliminate these self-centered, self-assertive displays.
On the other hand, pondering always the guilt of our sins really ought to be an integral part of our daily life. Sin is horrible. We're sinners. To constantly remind ourselves of this fact is simply facing reality. There's nothing excessive or "negative" about this.
Now, having covered the full spectrum of degrees of humility, St. Benedict wraps up this section of the rule with an insightful and encouraging description of the end result of our arduous climb up the ladder of humility:
"Then, when all these degrees of humility have been climbed, the monk will presently come to that perfect love of God which casts out all fear; whereby he will begin to observe without labour, as though naturally and by habit, all those precepts which formerly he did not observe without fear: no longer for fear of hell, but for love of Christ and through good habit and delight in virtue. And this will the Lord deign to show forth by the power of his Spirit in his workman now cleansed from vice and from sin."
I've read that the virtue of humility is never very attractive to ourselves, but it is very attractive to others. Sounds about right to me. But can there be anything more positive and uplifting than a soul that does all for the love of Christ? Wouldn't it be wonderful to naturally and habitually follow God's Commandments and attend to the duties of our state of life because of our love for Christ? Just imagine being cleansed of our vices and sins!
So thank you St. Benedict, who lived for Christ and has taken the time and trouble to help the rest of do so as well with the precepts of his Rule. We'll continue reading through and commenting on the Rule throughout the year, after some specific posts related to Holy Week and Easter. They're just about here.
We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee,
Comments