A Call To Humility

"All perfection in this life is accompanied by a measure of imperfection, and all our knowledge contains an element of obscurity. A humble knowledge of oneself is a surer road to God than a deep searching of the sciences. Yet learning itself is not to be blamed, nor is the simple knowledge of anything whatsoever to be despised, for true learning is good in itself and ordained by God; but a good conscience and a holy life is always preferred." - Thomas A Kempis

Dan and I are going through a Christian classic written by Thomas A Kempis in the 1400's, called The Imitation of Christ. We have struggled for years with finding a time that we can have solid, undivided reflection and prayer time together. The mornings never work (our schedules are too different) and in the evenings we are too sleepy to give the attention that is warranted. So, we just started having our reflection time together over dinner. What a fine idea! Last night's discussion was food to my soul and I am looking forward to this new ritual.

The quoted text above comes from the 3rd chapter and was part of our dinner conversation last night. We were overwhelmed by the idea of humility and the living of a holy life. Here is something we talk about often as Christians, isn't it? But what does this truly mean? What does a holy life really look like? Surely it does not lie in our rank at church or the personal "blessings" we store up for ourselves as proof that we are favored by God. No. When I look at the life of Christ, I see that it must lie in something else.

"Who has a fiercer struggle than he who strives to conquer himself? Yet this must be our chief concern - to conquer self, and by daily growing stronger than self, advance in holiness." -A Kempis, 31

If I believe that Jesus lived among us as the incarnate God and that he conquered death that I might live to tell of it, then the call to pick up my cross daily and follow him is a mighty one and a task that is all but small. Thomas A Kempis speaks truthfully, for from the mouth of Christ came the instruction, "For he who seeks to keep his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake will find it." And so I understand that I must choose to conquer myself. Hmmm...what does this mean exactly? I believe it calls for a constant examining of the life and the choices we make for ourselves. It also calls for the development of the disciplines (prayer, fasting, solitude, confession, etc.) so that we may be in the daily practice of dying to ourselves. Oh, Lord, we need your wisdom, your grace and the conviction of your Spirit. We are creatures of comfort and too easily slip into a mode of survival. But if we believe that there is more to life than what we see on Earth, then we are to be pitied who say we believe thus and live otherwise.

"He is truly great, who is great in the love of God. He is truly great, who is humble in mind, and regards earth's highest honours as nothing. He is truly wise who counts all earthly things as dung, in order that he may win Christ. And he is truly learned, who renounces his own will for the will of God." - A Kempis, 32