April 11, 2011 – Sirach 51

Gives seven degrees of humility,

the first of which is "to acknowledge oneself contemptible";

the second, "to grieve for this";

the third, "to confess it";

the fourth, "to convince others of this, that is to wish them to believe it";

the fifth, "to bear patiently that this be said of us";

the sixth, "to suffer oneself to be treated with contempt";

the seventh, "to love being thus treated." From St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica.

I ran across this looking at different things and thought it fit well with the chapter since it talked about seeking Wisdom and seeking wisdom requires humility.  Those that are not humble cannot find wisdom because they will refuse to believe they are not correct in their view.  The truest way to get to Wisdom is to being open to the idea that you may not be right, testing what you know, looking into opposing viewpoints and being honest with yourself.  I spent many years knowing I knew exactly what was right and wrong and really judging the people that held different ideas.  I find myself having completely changed my viewpoint on many things and not understanding what I was thinking when I was in that spot and befriending those I used to judge.  Now that I am here, in this spot, I must struggle against that arrogance that I know it all now.  I must continue to be open to Wisdom and continue to seek knowledge and discern Truth.  When we plant our feet in what we think we know, we are not open to Wisdom. 

That does not mean I am not confident in what I know.  I Trust that what I learn about is coming from knowledgeable sources and trust that the Truth of the Church cannot be overcome.  The fact that I believe the Truth is in the Catholic Church allows me to be open to the Truth and dive into others views and discuss them because I have faith in the Truth behind me.  But still, I must remain humble and open or I run the risk of missing the opportunity to share my faith because I reject someone because of what they may say or do.  I don’t know if all that came across the way I thought it in my head.  Basically I think there is a difference between being confident in what you believe and still being open to Wisdom so that we can grow and I strive to find that balance.  Without the balance, we plant our feet in what we ABSOLUTELY KNOW and we stop growing.