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“He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8
Last week, I stopped my car at a traffic light. A young woman began her long and arduous journey across the intersection in the crosswalk before me. She was dressed beautifully, with a long skirt and a complementary sweater. And a little whimsical hat with a feather perched on her brown curls. Her body twisted in the pose of those with muscular dystrophy. Her gnarled fingers wrapped themselves around the arms of the walker that helped her keep her balance. Her face contorted with exhaustion, and beads of sweat dotted her forehead. As she passed in front of me, she stopped for a moment and turned to me; with a beautiful smile, she gave me a little wave, and with that wave, we became companions on her journey across the intersection. I was no longer an outsider or observer but on her team.
That day, this young woman gave me the gift of humility. She provided a new lens through which to see the world and to see her. I was gentled into thinking of her circumstances rather than my own, and in that experience, I was more fully human and connected than I had been five minutes before.
Often, we feel superior to the humble among us. We equate humility with humiliation as though it is a weakness to overcome. But only when we can humbly approach life can we truly see the reality of our status and worth. With humility comes perspective, openness, and, perhaps surprisingly, courage.
Henri Nouwen observed, "Trees that grow tall have deep roots. Great height without great depth is dangerous. The great leaders of this world – such as St. Francis, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr, were all people who lived with public notoriety, influence, and power in a humble way because of their deep spiritual rootedness."
Of course, the most outstanding example of humility is in the actions of God on our behalf. This Sunday, we continue to explore well-known texts that provide the foundations of our faith. As we explore the passage from Micah, we can begin to see that when walking humbly with God, we follow in our Lord's footsteps.
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