with such wretched dust as men, who scarcely know anything of what they do, and
can of themselves do nothing but evil?
“Wretched dust.” Perhaps this sounds like hyperbole, or overly dramatic,
but it is simply a fact. This is what we are: wretched dust who of ourselves can
do nothing but evil.
And yet, paradoxically, the glory of being human, the thing that raises us
above all other animals, and above ourselves, is our ability to recognize how
low we are in relation to God. “What is man that Thou art mindful of him? ...
Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with
glory and honor.” (Psalm 8:4-5)
The wisdom that lifts us up from the dust and makes us human begins
with humility. The Lord advised His disciples not to take the highest seat at
the table, lest they be moved down, but to take the lowest seat and perhaps be
invited to move up.
The highest angels, the ones the Writings call “celestial,” are the most
humble and also the wisest. They not only know, perceive and acknowledge
that of themselves they are nothing and the Lord everything, they love for that
to be so, and contemplate the reality of it with joy.
In this world, though, we can be sure that whenever we gain a measure
of humility the devil is standing by to remind us of how fine we are to be so
humble, and get us to secretly pat ourselves on the back for it. Best not to focus
on ourselves at all.
There is a beautiful admonition to be humble in these familiar words
from the prophet Micah in the Old Testament: “He hath showed thee, O man,
what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to
love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8) It doesn’t just say
we should be humble, but to “walk humbly with thy God.” Genuine humility
involves a relationship with God. And we notice in that verse that love of the
neighbor (doing justly and loving mercy) is joined with walking humbly with
God.
A humble recognition of our own “wretched” state instills in us an attitude
of humility, mercy and forgiveness in our relations with other people. There
is one Lord over all of us, in whose eyes we are all children, weak and helpless
and prone to going astray, and to whom we are all equally accountable.
It is necessary for peace on earth for there to be a God before whose throne
kings lay their crowns, and whose judgment is feared by presidents, generals
and all those in positions of power, just as much as it is by the common man.
Not one of the tyrants and criminals who have inflicted such misery on
the world throughout the ages was God-fearing or humble at heart. They were
carried away by the love of self and the desire to be the greatest and dominate
others.
7