Humility

You made Him for a little while lower than the angels;
You crowned Him with glory and honor,... Hebrews 2:7

Have you ever seen someone come into a room and try to be the life of the party? Or are you one of those people? I think we sometimes feel like we need this attention to feel good about ourselves. Well, I"m not so sure that we do. God is the only one who needs to be paying attention. It is His, and only His, judgment we should be worried about.

Blessed are the poor in spirit.

I'm just learning what this beatitude truly means through my Catechism of the Catholic Church (2546). "The Lord grieves over the rich, because they find their consolation in the abundance of goods. 'Let the proud seek and love earthly kingdoms, but blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.'" (2547) That quote right there turned the light bulb on for me. It was that comparison between the rich and the poor, the proud and the humble that made it truly make sense.

I think it's OK to be proud of what we do and what we are doing and maybe even what we have, but we must make sure to keep ourselves in check, just as Jesus did.

This Scripture reminds me of a television show I watched the other night called "True Beauty." Supermodel Cheryl Tiegs is one of the hosts of the show (and I think she may have started it). Basically, 10 beautiful people (from the outside) were chosen to compete and the winner will get all sorts of recognition, and I'm sure some sort of cash reward. For instance, he/she will be featured in People Magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People edition. But the catch is that they are not being judged on their outward beauty, but their inner beauty. And they don't know this.

As my husband and I were watching, we kept on sort of chuckling at these people because they were so boastful about how wonderful and beautiful they were. It seemed as though they had no humility. When we walk with God, we walk with humility. We are several levels below the angels and we must realize that and act accordingly. It's difficult to pray and let God's plan take it's course when we are too proud to accept it.