"We cannot fully reach humility by striving for it. Of all the virtues, humility might be the one that quietly shows us that, in a fundamental way, there is no dividing line between the arrogant and the humble, between the proud and the modest; none can achieve humility alone. Good and evil indeed pass through each of our hearts. Our efforts to be humble are undermined all too often by that villain, our own heart.
"Being humble, then, is like trying to catch air in our hands. The faster we close our fingers around it, the faster the air spurts away. The slower that we close our hands, the slower the air spurts away. But if we hold our hands, palms up, arms outstretched, then air will come to rest in our hands. To experience humility, then, is not to grasp or to strive toward it, but to rest as we seek to bless others. When we are moved from within, a humble spirit can descend upon us like that air resting in the open hand.
"Aspiring to humility is forcing the hand closed and clenching the fist. Aspiring to achieve humility is King Kong with his fists clenched, beating his chest, bellowing and calling attention to himself.
"However, humility is a spiritual activity. It is opening the hands in love, extending the hands outward to other people, extending the open hands upwards to God, and receiving in an open heart the spirit of humility. Humility is letting that spirit come into us and energize our hands to be helping hands. Humility is inspiring. It inspires us as we intake the spirit of humility. And humility within us can inspire others.
"This is the spirit of humility that we seek. It is not something we achieve but something we receive. If we try to meet the needs of other people, then someday perhaps someone may secretly nominate us as a hero in his or her Hall of Humility. May we each receive this simple spirit of humility. May we grow in trust that our own needs are met so that we may seek to understand and try to meet the needs of others. Perhaps, a few may secretly nominate us as a hero in their Hall of Humility. We will not know. We will know only those faces in our Own Hall of Humility, and we will draw great strength from their hidden lives.
"Humility is a Pegasus that serves others. It is bridled with grace and modesty. It rises to the heavens bearing others to a higher life. It is others who recognize and appreciate the love, power, and accomplishments of the Pegasus, humility, not the winged horse itself. For humility is the quiet virtue."
