Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

In your majesty ride forth victoriously in the cause of truth, humility and justice; let your right hand achieve awesome deeds.

• Psalm 45:4

Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life.

• Proverbs 22:4

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

• Philippians 2:1-4

“The first stage of humility is that one always keeps the fear of God before one’s eyes, avoiding all forgetfulness. One should always remember what God has commanded and that those who despise God will burn in hell for their sins while eternal life is prepared for those who fear him.
“The second stage of humility is that one love not one’s own will nor delight in fulfilling one‘s own desires.
“The third degree of humility is that one, for the love of God, submit oneself to one’s superior in all obedience.
“The fourth stage of humility is that if, in the course of this obedience, one meets with hardship, contradiction or even injury, one should embrace them patiently. with a quiet conscience and not grow weary or give in.
“The fifth stage of humility is not to hide from the abbot any of the evil thoughts that beset one’s heart nor those sins committed in secret, but humbly to confess them.
“The sixth stage of humility is for a monk to be contented with the meanest and worst of everything and in all that is commanded him to reckon himself a bad and worthless labourer.
“The seventh stage of humility is that one should not only with one’s tongue call oneself lower and viler than all but also believe it in one’s heart.
“The eighth stage of humility is for a monk to do nothing not authorized by the common rule of the monastery or the example of his seniors.
“The ninth stage of humility is that a monk refrain his tongue from speaking, keeping silent until asked a question.
“The tenth stage of humility is that one should not laugh easily or quickly
“The eleventh stage of humility is that when a monk speaks he do so gently, without laughter, humbly, gravely. His words should be few and reasonable and he should not raise his voice …
“The twelfth degree of humility is that the monk always show his humility to all that see him, not just in his heart but in his outward behaviour.  (Rule Chapter 7).”

• Tony Lane, A Concise History of Christian Thought

Benedict of Nursia (480-548) was a monk who established the Benedictine Order.  He established the Abbey of Monte Cassino.  As a military historian, the Battle of Monte Cassino was a stumbling block for the Allied forces.  They did not want to destroy the Abbey due to the historical significance.  To make matters worse, religious and historical artifacts from Rome had been moved to the monastery for safe keeping.  But when the Nazi army used these factors that caused the Allies to hesitate to the Nazi advantage, the attacks up the mountain were futile and that led to the eventual bombing which leveled the Abbey of Monte Cassino.

And reading over the twelve stages of humility, it is hard to reconcile with Benedict’s comments in the Prologue of his Rule, nothing harsh or rigorous.  Maybe not harsh, but having twelve rules pertaining to humility is rather rigorous.

But in studying these twelve points, there are only a few that would not be on anyone’s ideas regarding humility.  Only speaking when asked a question would be hard for many, but you can see why that is listed as part of humility.  How many times have you had a conversation, and someone wants to impress you with their knowledge on the subject?  That is not showing humility.  My wife constantly worried about whether she talked too much when we had guests or we were guests at someone else’s house.  She was always wanting to know more about the other person, but sometimes you had to initiate conversations when meeting someone new.  My wife was great in doing that, but she always ran the risk of dominating if the new friends were introverts or shy until they got to know you.  If the latter, the problem then becomes a dynamic of dominating the conversation has been established that overshadows future conversations.  In a monastery, it might work, but in social occasions or at a church gathering, not speaking until asked a question might get awkward.

The one that would kill me, maybe two, is not laughing.  That is rule ten, but it is also mentioned in rule 11.  I suppose Benedict’s concept here is that if you are joking around in your speech, you might simply be wasting your time when you should be glorifying God.  But on the other hand, I think God invented laughter for many reasons.  It is an expression of Joy, and Joy comes from the Lord.  When Joy overtakes you, it may just burst out spontaneously, with no joke being told at all.  In the television show M*A*S*H, father Mulcahy would always complain about the “jocularity” going on, which became his tagline and a joke all on its own.

And God placed our leaders over us, but that still does not mean the leaders are always right.  In silently serving a leader who leads us down the wrong path, the third degree could have the entire order of monks go down the wrong path.  It would seem that in invoking the posture of the seventh stage, being lower and wretched in posture, might set yourself up to be allowed to question the superior’s decree in a humble manner rather than following a bad command blindly.

Yet, each of these stages, decrees or just rules can be translated into putting one’s humility into action.

We can all have false humility, which Paul warns against in Colossians 2.  Yet, in acting out these twelve stages, we would be unable to pull it off over a long period of time, if we had false humility.

Or maybe that is just me.  I might have to find some quiet closet somewhere and vent.  No talking, no laughing, and no questioning a superior’s statements?  That was one of the reasons I left the military.

If you like these Tuesday morning essays about philosophy and other “heavy topics,” but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Tuesday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.