Close to the Ground

Readings: HOS 6:1-6; LK 18:9-14

I once heard a speaker with multiple PhD’s – referring to all his education – that “nobody knows everything about anything”, and I have always loved that line.

I have also been watching the senate confirmation hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson the past few days.  It has been hard to watch some of the ‘mansplaining’ that has been happening to her – perhaps a smarter and more accomplished person than a majority of those who are questioning her – yet she maintained her composure.

What do these have to do with today’s readings?

Humility.

One of the things that seems to anger Jesus the most is self-righteousness and he directs his remarks today towards all those who think themselves to be better than others.  And it especially bothers him when religious leaders do it!

In the first reading, Hosea invites us to “return to God.”  Returning to God requires humility.  It necessitates our saying that we don’t know everything about anything and that we need God.  It is the admission that we’ve gone astray – by what we have done or what we have failed to do – and we ask God to become the center of our lives again.  This takes humility and courage.

Think about any relationship where you have had to do an honest apology and make amends.  It can be gut-wrenching to face the other person. At the same time, there is often a freedom that we feel because we no longer have to bear the burden of going astray and being disconnected.  We’re “back home” and in alignment. This is what God desires from us – reconnection.

It is always important, I think, to believe that we can be restored and redeemed.  Some of us have come to see ourselves and others as fundamentally broken somehow.  We were taught or told that, and it is a toxic message. Part of the Lenten journey is to believe that we can be redeemed – and that humanity can as well.  Sure we have failed, but there are deeper stories than our failures, and our mistakes are not the only things that are real.

In the gospel, Jesus counsels humility.  True humility, that is. 

I have always loved the word “humility.”  Its root comes from “humus” which is the top layer of soil on the ground.  To be humble is to remain close to the ground, and, I would contend, to know your place in the grand scheme of things.  A humble person knows their worth and also realizes that everything else has worth as well.  A humble person knows that they have flaws and knows that everyone else does too.  A humble person is more focused on curiosity than judgment and I find that there is a calming, easy quality about humble folks. And like the top layer of soil, things can grow in humble people.

Maybe for today, we can work to believe that we can be redeemed – and so can others.  And if we move through life with a humble spirit, God’s seeds will sprout in our lives more readily.