Humility has a scent we can all use.

Has this ever happen to you?  You’re giving a presentation or finishing a project or showing your chocolate cake in a baking contest. It all goes well, and everybody likes your work, except one. And she quickly tells why with several suggestions to make it better.

You win first prize in the cake contest and take home the blue ribbon. However, for a long time afterwards, her negative remarks ring in your ears, blocking you from savoring the favorable comments. You’re simply out of sorts.

Why can one person have the power to control our attention blocking us from hearing all the flattering remarks? How can we so easily give away this power?   Well, we all desire to be our best and to be praised for it.  Negative remarks remind us that we’re not flawless.

 To make it worse, we immediately take these remarks personally.  It’s as if a scent is released which smells of weakness. We recoil from its odor, because it exposes what we want to hide.  But, can this aroma also be humility which grounds us, seeing our lives as they truly are and reminding us that God is the giver of all our gifts? And while we use these gifts, we have no right to claim them as ours. So, we are humbled.

It’s a subtle reminder to go to the place of abundant praise and gratitude: The Lord Jesus. He offers what we need in all situations. And when we succeed, he rejoices and wants to share the joy of our success. Humility is the scent that keeps Jesus in our lives.  

Humility provides us the time to consider the stewardship of our earthly possessions.  It doesn’t matter whether we have enough or too much, humility brings us to our knees praying, “Thank you God for all you’ve given me.”

 Humility humbles us because we are so loved by our God and know we are underserving of everything we have. It reminds us that these possessions we use to measure our success cannot even compare with the immeasurable ones yet to come.

 Indeed, the scent of humility freshens our lives, clears our air of stifling odors, and permeates it with the pleasant fragrance of gratitude and joy.

 Joy is the Christians’ breath

 It is “joy that Christians breath,” he said. Christians express themselves joyfully. Joy cannot be purchased or forced. “No,” the Pope said, “it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. The one who puts joy in our hearts is the Holy Spirit.” -Pope Francis

Share your thoughts and comments with me at livingintheholy@gmail.com. Simply click on the link or copy and paste the email address into your email program. I look forward to hearing from you. Fr. DeLillio