The Gift of Reverence keeps us true to ourselves and to God. It tells the truth in love and will not back down for motives of self-defense or security. Reverence is not only the fear of offending God prompted by love, but is loyalty to one's own personal integrity: to do what one believes is right no matter what the stakes are. . . . As the Gift of Reverence grows stronger, our trust in God expands. Humility is a profound sense of our weakness and nothingness, but at the same time an even greater trust in God's infinite mercy and compassion. The Gift of Reverence puts together these apparent opposites.
— Thomas Keating, The Daily Reader for Contemplative Living by Thomas Keating, Stephanie Iachetta, editor