One of my favorite excerpts of Ben Franklin’s Autobiography comes in his list of the thirteen qualities he listed as being important for moral perfection. After initially compiling a list of twelve, a friend suggests adding one more: humility. I love what Franklin doesn’t say here, leaving us to wonder if the friend’s advice was just a general idea that humility was important or if it was targeted to Franklin specifically. Franklin, after all, talks about his plan for moral perfection as it if is absolutely attainable. Not exactly a humble statement.
And then, in a deliciously rich bit of writing, he adds just four words after “Humility” in his list: “Imitate Jesus and Socrates.” Amazing. It is so perfect. Because, sure: if you want to be humble, imitate those two dudes. But to think you can imitate those two—that it’s that simple—and you can be humble? Well, isn’t that the opposite of humility?
This is a long way of getting around to what I am trying to write about for today’s post. Simply put, I got too big for my britches, wasn’t gracious, and said something I just shouldn’t have said—or more accurately, shouldn’t have said the way that I did. And I said it to someone I really care about. And I hate that quality when I let it out. I apologized (a lot), but I still feel bad. I know I’ll feel bad about it all night and probably when I wake up tomorrow morning, too. Sometimes I am reminded that I am not nearly as humble as I should be. These reminders are always painful but I am grateful when I can recognize how I can do better.
No comments:
Post a Comment