It is finished.
Aug. 29th, 2004 12:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lantairvleaAs of about three minutes ago. *Rushes to get ready and out the door.*
Humility is a funny thing. As soon as you think you have it, you don't. Which often means that the most humble people don’t even realize that they are as such and leaves everybody else frustrated by their modesty. However, the real issue is not who’s humble and who isn’t, but more on how we can at least try to keep ourselves a little more humble and a little less prideful, or, as I prefer to call it, overly confident in one’s abilities.
About a year ago I had the chance to attend EFY up at the NAU campus. There was an art contest for those attending who wanted to show off their artistic skill and see how they measured up to the other people who were there. I figured I’m not too bad of an artist, it’d be good for me to enter a contest and just see where it goes from there. I managed to find some blank paper and did a few small pencil and ink pieces, seven in total, and turned them in. During the rest of the week I checked out some of the other entries and as a result felt rather confident that I’d do fairly well.
The night came to announce the winners of the contest. The names were announced, I had claimed third place. I nodded and accepted and then went directly to wondering who beat me out. I recalled there had been a fair amount of entries, but most of them were not as, well, refined and it appeared that the artists didn’t quite have the same amount of drawing experience that I’d had. I considered the possibility that someone had entered at the last minute so I had missed getting a chance to see it.
Later that night during the dance that was held after the banquet, I learned that the guy that had taken second was the one who had entered a bunch of rather nifty origami art. Some of it was rather complex, for example, a guy riding a horse and a little hydra dragon. Shilo, my friend, had also learned of who had taken first place. She described the picture and I immediately knew which one it was. I’d seen it when entering my own pictures and reacted instantaneously. Pride injured and feeling rather wounded I hollered and paced and gesticulated wildly in a vain attempt to grasp some logical anchor that would explain this great injustice.
After venting my initial reaction I packed away my outrage and pondered if I had been mistaken as Shilo’s description had been a bit vague and there could have been other similarly themed images. There was really only one way to find out and following the dance Shilo pointed out the girl who’d won first place to me. Unsure of my own reactions I had Shilo come with me and asked the winner about the picture that she’d entered. She described it. To my dismay it was the same drawing I had initially thought of and reacted to. I managed to sincerely congratulated her on winning and calmly, if a little stiffly, walked away.
Needless to say it was a rather humbling experience on my part and made me realize all the more that art, like many things in life, is a subjective thing and being technically skilled doesn’t guarantee success.
The same can be applied to one’s spiritual wellbeing. One may have a hundred scriptures memorized on any subject or may be able to give a complete and comprehensive timeline of the church’s history from beginning to end, but still lack something as simple as humility and meekness, which is an important key in furthering our knowledge in the gospel.
It is necessary to be humble in order to be taught. Just the same, it is necessary to be humble in order to receive knowledge and answers from God as described in D&C 112:10 “Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.” Those who think they know everything; who are prideful and oftentimes feel that they need no help from another, lack the ability to receive answers for the questions they might ask. This may not be because there are no answers to be found, but more that the prideful person does not listen to those that are given. The overly confident often fail to realize their weaknesses and are more prone to falling to temptation. Their pride and confidence make them believe they cannot be touched and blinds them to what might be glaringly obvious to an outsider. In Proverbs 18:12 a warning is given to the prideful “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honor is humility.”
Sometimes destruction of one’s personal perception of life is required before one can be humble. The prideful are often unaware that they are fallible as others are and find themselves unaware of their great and often numerous weaknesses. However, if the wall built by their personal view of the world is broken down a new awareness can be brought about as well as a recognizing of weaknesses and feelings of humility. Ether 12:27 asks us to be aware of our faults and weaknesses that we might be sufficiently humble and able to return again to our Father “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” Alma 5:27 further warns us against the dangers of pride and the need to be humble “Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. Behold ye must prepare quickly; for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand, and such an one hath not eternal life.”
Humility can be applied to every aspect of our lives, though as with everything needs to be tempered. Humility should not be confused with lacking confidence or low self-esteem. It is possible to be confident and still be humble enough to recognize and accept mistakes. To be able to accept criticism and realize that others have valuable opinions and ideas as well. Humility can extend beyond meekness and show itself as gratitude and thankfulness. It helps us to recognize that we can’t make it alone, but also to realize that there is help to be found if we ask for it.
Humility is one of the keys to eternal life. Without it we cannot make it. We need to recognize our faults and accept them as we strive to better ourselves and prepare to once again meet God and our Savior who have made all of this possible to begin with.
Ever have the inexplainable fear of walking out of your room and/or bathroom only wearing a bra and pants?
Humility is a funny thing. As soon as you think you have it, you don't. Which often means that the most humble people don’t even realize that they are as such and leaves everybody else frustrated by their modesty. However, the real issue is not who’s humble and who isn’t, but more on how we can at least try to keep ourselves a little more humble and a little less prideful, or, as I prefer to call it, overly confident in one’s abilities.
About a year ago I had the chance to attend EFY up at the NAU campus. There was an art contest for those attending who wanted to show off their artistic skill and see how they measured up to the other people who were there. I figured I’m not too bad of an artist, it’d be good for me to enter a contest and just see where it goes from there. I managed to find some blank paper and did a few small pencil and ink pieces, seven in total, and turned them in. During the rest of the week I checked out some of the other entries and as a result felt rather confident that I’d do fairly well.
The night came to announce the winners of the contest. The names were announced, I had claimed third place. I nodded and accepted and then went directly to wondering who beat me out. I recalled there had been a fair amount of entries, but most of them were not as, well, refined and it appeared that the artists didn’t quite have the same amount of drawing experience that I’d had. I considered the possibility that someone had entered at the last minute so I had missed getting a chance to see it.
Later that night during the dance that was held after the banquet, I learned that the guy that had taken second was the one who had entered a bunch of rather nifty origami art. Some of it was rather complex, for example, a guy riding a horse and a little hydra dragon. Shilo, my friend, had also learned of who had taken first place. She described the picture and I immediately knew which one it was. I’d seen it when entering my own pictures and reacted instantaneously. Pride injured and feeling rather wounded I hollered and paced and gesticulated wildly in a vain attempt to grasp some logical anchor that would explain this great injustice.
After venting my initial reaction I packed away my outrage and pondered if I had been mistaken as Shilo’s description had been a bit vague and there could have been other similarly themed images. There was really only one way to find out and following the dance Shilo pointed out the girl who’d won first place to me. Unsure of my own reactions I had Shilo come with me and asked the winner about the picture that she’d entered. She described it. To my dismay it was the same drawing I had initially thought of and reacted to. I managed to sincerely congratulated her on winning and calmly, if a little stiffly, walked away.
Needless to say it was a rather humbling experience on my part and made me realize all the more that art, like many things in life, is a subjective thing and being technically skilled doesn’t guarantee success.
The same can be applied to one’s spiritual wellbeing. One may have a hundred scriptures memorized on any subject or may be able to give a complete and comprehensive timeline of the church’s history from beginning to end, but still lack something as simple as humility and meekness, which is an important key in furthering our knowledge in the gospel.
It is necessary to be humble in order to be taught. Just the same, it is necessary to be humble in order to receive knowledge and answers from God as described in D&C 112:10 “Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.” Those who think they know everything; who are prideful and oftentimes feel that they need no help from another, lack the ability to receive answers for the questions they might ask. This may not be because there are no answers to be found, but more that the prideful person does not listen to those that are given. The overly confident often fail to realize their weaknesses and are more prone to falling to temptation. Their pride and confidence make them believe they cannot be touched and blinds them to what might be glaringly obvious to an outsider. In Proverbs 18:12 a warning is given to the prideful “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honor is humility.”
Sometimes destruction of one’s personal perception of life is required before one can be humble. The prideful are often unaware that they are fallible as others are and find themselves unaware of their great and often numerous weaknesses. However, if the wall built by their personal view of the world is broken down a new awareness can be brought about as well as a recognizing of weaknesses and feelings of humility. Ether 12:27 asks us to be aware of our faults and weaknesses that we might be sufficiently humble and able to return again to our Father “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” Alma 5:27 further warns us against the dangers of pride and the need to be humble “Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. Behold ye must prepare quickly; for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand, and such an one hath not eternal life.”
Humility can be applied to every aspect of our lives, though as with everything needs to be tempered. Humility should not be confused with lacking confidence or low self-esteem. It is possible to be confident and still be humble enough to recognize and accept mistakes. To be able to accept criticism and realize that others have valuable opinions and ideas as well. Humility can extend beyond meekness and show itself as gratitude and thankfulness. It helps us to recognize that we can’t make it alone, but also to realize that there is help to be found if we ask for it.
Humility is one of the keys to eternal life. Without it we cannot make it. We need to recognize our faults and accept them as we strive to better ourselves and prepare to once again meet God and our Savior who have made all of this possible to begin with.
Ever have the inexplainable fear of walking out of your room and/or bathroom only wearing a bra and pants?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-08-30 12:27 am (UTC)I think that pride can be a good thing to have, though; there's pride, and then there's just being self-centered. Pride and humility can both go a long way in opposite directions, and it's good to not be too extreme in either.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-30 06:14 pm (UTC)*Nods.* All things in moderation, of course. I agree that certain types of pride are a good thing which lead to self confidence, etc.