Humility

In September we prayed the Litany of Humility with the youth group, and it wasn't until last night as I was leading it that it really hit home. 

Oh Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus
From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus
From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus
From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus
From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus
From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, Jesus
From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, Jesus
From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, Jesus

That others may be loved more than I, Jesus grant me the grace to desire it
That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus grant me the grace to desire it
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease, Jesus grant me the grace to desire it
That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus grant me the grace to desire it
That others may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus grant me the grace to desire it
That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus grant me the grace to desire it
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus grant me the grace to desire it

Amen.

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What's really striking a chord with me today, especially given events that have happened lately, are the lines "That others may be loved more than I, chosen and I set aside, praised and I unnoticed..."  Wow.  How powerful are those lines, really?!  Especially in today's society!  Everyone wants credit for even the littlest thing they do, everyone wants to be the most popular, have their 15 minutes of fame in the limelight, and that's not what it's all about. 

A short & sweet food-for-thought to go with this prayer today....

Jesus grant me the grace to desire it.

Last Words

If you knew the last thing you said to someone was going to be the last thing you said to them, would you still say it?

That is the question I posed on facebook the other day after a suicide, again, touched my life.  Life is so short, so precious, and we never know the impact that our actions/inactions, how our voice/silence may have on someone’s decisions, someone’s life.

Many times we see snippets in the media about this person tweeting something, that person posted about (insert controversial opinion) and is now retracting the statement and apologizing for how their words hurt and/or insulted someone. So why do we even say it?  It's not like "I'm sorry." will take away the pain we've caused.... Sure, it may make it easier for us to sleep better at night knowing we retracted our offensive statement or apologize for our obnoxious behavior, but it doesn't erase the memories or the pain that our words, our actions caused.  Why do we feel justified in putting it out there in voice, in print? What ever happened to the good ol’ cliché phrase “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”

1 Peter 3:8 (NIV) says “Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.”

To be like-minded: agreeing in opinions, goals; compatible, harmonious, of one mind
Sympathetic: feeling/showing sympathy, understanding (see Sympathy)
Sympathy: the act or power of sharing the feelings of another, compassion
Love: to have a deep tender, ineffable feeling of affection toward a person
Compassion: deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it
Humble: meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude, spirit; not arrogant or prideful

So, how does following what Peter tells us have anything to do with speaking out against someone?  How does it justify telling someone that their life-choices will land them in Hell, and how does it make it any better to try to apologize (on FB no less) after they've already died?  We don't have the right to treat anyone with anything less than compassion, sympathy, love... in following Jesus' footsteps, we are called to walk in humility, to love, not to judge. 

Think before you speak.  Take a deep breath, count to ten, and really, really ask yourself if it's worth it.  Think about who else is around you, who else is reading your tweets, fb posts, and blogs...