Tag: humility

(This is one of those blog posts that has been rolling around in my head for a couple of weeks.)

We were visiting some friends overseas. One of them said, “That’s not how we pronounce that here – that’s only how it’s pronounced in America.”

At the time I thought, “Oh, I just didn’t know that.” But later, I realized how that friend made me feel stupid.

I’ve done that many times. “I’ve been there, and that’s not the way it really is.” Or, “It’s bad because there’s such a better way that it’s done in England, where we lived.”

I hope I lean toward humility and not toward arrogance. And I try to remember what C.S. Lewis once said: “If you think you’re not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.” I have a long way to go.

On the day Heather got her master’s degree, we saw a good friend from church. He was one of the esteemed faculty at the front of the room. We had no idea that he was a PhD – or that he was on the faculty of the University of Denver. And we have known him for more than seven years.

I was very impressed that he has held his academic credentials “close to his chest”. To him, the fact that he is “Dr. H…” is just not that important. His gentle wisdom and grace are reflective of his humility too. He commands respect by not demanding it!

Takeaway: what are some ways you can be humble today – without being obvious?