Posted on by Kurt Bodling

humble learning

“I think that it is far commoner at the University to meet men of great attainments combined with sincere humility and charity, for the simple reason that the most erudite specialist at a University becomes aware both of the wide diversity of knowledge and of his own limitations as well.”

Benson, Arthur Christopher. “Books” in From a College Window. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1906, p. 57

Comment: Of course, academia is also a place to meet people with no humility or charity at all. They are the people with no real understanding of their tiny place in the breadth and depth and height of all that there is. But I still believe that it is true that in the world of higher learning (and in true religion!) real achievement and sincere humility go hand in hand.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

people’s attitude

“Except for the very few who are faithful and gratefully accept God’s word the majority are ungrateful, stubborn, brash, and live as if God had given us his word because we deserved it.”

Luther, Martin. “Appeal for Prayer Against the Turks” (1541) Luther’s Works Vol. 43. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, page 220

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scholarship’s place

“Scholarship, too, both biblical and otherwise, is certainly important to the individual and to the church as a whole. It is a part of our part in responsible living before God. But it can never stand in the place of experience of the living voice of God, and it cannot remedy or remove our fallibility.”

Willard, Dallas. Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God. Updated and expanded by Jan Johnson. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2012, p. 239

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becoming a mystic

“We become mystics or contemplatives only through the grace of God as work in our lives. Any effort we make to do it strictly on our own is likely doomed to failure. Indeed, the author of The Cloud of Unknowing has stern words for those who, through pride and the folly of their own imagination, try to become mystics or contemplatives without humbly relying on the guidance of the Spirit. He calls these pseudo-mystics the ‘devil’s contemplatives’. Contemplation and mysticism are always gifts from God. But God will never force those gifts on anyone God is not in the business of spiritual coercion.”

McColman, Carl. The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism: an Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality. Minneapolis: Broadleaf Books, 2023, p. 176.

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results of humility

(of the humble person) “He is able to see quite clearly that what is useful to him may be useless for somebody else, and what helps others to be saints might ruin him. That is why humility brings with it a deep refinement of spirit, a peacefulness, a tact and a common sense without which there is no sane morality.”

Merton, Thomas. New Seeds of Contemplation. Introduction by Sue Monk Kidd. New York: New Directions Books, 2007, ©1961, p. 100.

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humble contemplation

“The contemplative’s only safeguard is humility and self-forgetfulness and the renunciation of all desire to exploit the experience for any purpose whatever. What happens, happens. One accepts it, in humility, and sees it, without inferring anything or instituting any comparison with other experiences. And one walks on in the presence of God.”

Merton, Thomas. The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation. Edited and with an Introduction by William H. Shannon. NY: HarperOne, 2003, p. 60.

Comment: this is probably part of the reason it seems that contemplative Christians are few and far between … most don’t talk about it, don’t write books about, don’t mount podcasts or fund-raising campaigns around it.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

spiritual life and the love of Christ

“There is no true spiritual life outside the love of Christ. We have a spiritual life only because we are loved by Him. The spiritual life consists in receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit and His charity….  If we know how great is this love of Jesus for us we will never be afraid to go to Him in all our poverty, all our weakness, all our spiritual wretchedness and infirmity.” (p. 25)

Merton, Thomas. Thoughts in Solitude. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1958. (pbk ed 1999).

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Martin Luther not the last word

“This is my opinion, and doubtless Christ will further enlighten and guide you within your own hearts through his Holy Spirit as to just how you should act at all times and specifically in this matter.” (page 165)

Luther, Martin. “A Letter of Consolation to the Christians at Halle” (1527) Luther’s Works Vol. 43. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969.

In his letter of consolation, Luther offers his thoughts and guidance, and ends by saying he is well aware that he isn’t the last word in these matters. The Holy Spirit will surely guide people in ways that Luther can’t yet imagine. You and I should have the same kind of humility when we offer our advice and thoughts to others.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

silence and humility

“The ninth step of humility is achieved when a monk, practicing silence, only speaks when asked a question, for, ‘In many words you shall not avoid sin’ (Prov. 10:15). And, ‘A talkative man shall not prosper upon the earth’ (Ps. 140:11).”

Saint Benedict. The Rule of St. Benedict. Translated, with introduction and notes by Anthony C. Meisel and M.L. del Mastro. NY : Doubleday, 1975, Chapter 7, page 60.

Note: Interesting to note that, while chapter 6 of the Rule is about Silence, St. Benedict includes this point about silence in chapter 7. Chapter 7 is on Humility.

There are so, so many times when it would have been better to bite our tongues and not say something that sprang to mind. Oh, yes, there absolutely are times when we should speak out, when we should call someone out, when we should ask hard questions, name names, and so on. Mostly in defense of someone else. But the way of humility sometimes is the way of silence. And humility doesn’t mean meekly accepting abuse.

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I could be wrong

“Now in individual cases, it may be that they say something that we find very hard to accept because of our own earnest convictions. Here we must rethink our own positions in the light of what authority has said and, if possible, try to see the reasons why authority has spoken as it did, the presumption being that they had good reasons to do it. However, it may be that with the best will in the world we cannot really convince ourselves that this is right. And if so, we are inevitably thrown into a position of dissent. But I think we must be modest about it and realize that our own opinion is not necessarily the last word. Maybe somebody is wiser than we are. And maybe the church has a wisdom from which we have to learn. So we shouldn’t constitute ourselves as a kind of alternate magisterium.”

Dulles, Avery Cardinal. “Reason, Faith and Theology.” Interviewer: James Martin, SJ.  America. 5 March 2001 issue. Viewed online 12 December 2015 at http://americamagazine.org/issue/338/article/reason-faith-and-theology

I’ve heard two phrases that everyone should have at the ready. One is “I could be wrong” (as above). And the other is “I guess I don’t see it that way.”

The way of humility is paved with phrases like these, not with clinchers, or closers, or zingers, not with shutting down the opposition, or winning at any cost.