Humility is one of those really popular personality traits, isn't it? That is, we all love the idea of everybody else being humble instead of parading around with an air of superiority. In the meantime, most of us have difficulty being humble ourselves. Please let me be clear: I'm talking about neither false modesty nor low self-esteem; I'm speaking of true humility.
I felt really struck by awe the other day, as I was taking my almost daily walk down into Rock Creek Park. I was looking up at the towering trees and all their beautiful leaves, just beginning to have a hint of fall color. I realized that there are billions or trillions or more leaves in the world, billions and trillions of stars, and billions and trillions of billions of other things in the universe.
It occurred to me that, with the infinite number of amazing events and species and stars in the universe, none of us can really, honestly, know very much. Well, maybe those who have attained God-Consciousness as taught in some Eastern spiritualities know, or are capable of knowing, so much more than those of us who merely count on the traditional rational consciousness of our relatively finite minds. Perhaps spiritual consciousness is unlimited, but rational consciousness is, generally speaking, pretty limited when compared to the vastness of the universe.
So, why do we take such pride in what we know? There are whole layers of the universe about which we are ignorant, or which we do not yet understand. The best astro-physicists can hardly also be incredibly knowledgable about biology and chemistry and electronics and medicine and psychology and neuroscience and parenting and economics and international diplomacy and relationship-building and forensics and hair-cutting and skiing and gymnastics and playing all the musical instruments in existence and painting and sculpting. You get my drift, I hope.
We do know things, by the grace of the Infinite Creator, the Divine Consciousness which is comprehensive enough to encompass knowledge of all reality, but what any single one of us knows is really just a drop in the bucket compared to all the information and knowledge and awareness and consciousness in all the different dimensions of the universe.
Why not allow ourselves to be humble, so that we can acknowledge our own ignorance, and then open ourselves up to a larger awareness, that is, a larger consciousness than we currently have? Humility opens the door to allowing in Divine qualities and Divine Presence. Humility allows us to listen to the voice of intuition and hear something beyond what we ourselves can ordinarily know.
Let's be humble, because only admitting that we do not know allows us to be open to learning. Learning is such a delightful gift. Expanded, enlightened, and ever-growing consciousness is even better! Since that kind of amazing God-Consciousness does not come from ourselves, but only through ourselves, we still need to be humble before the One who does know the whole universe, and who loves it very much. That kind of humility rewards us with ever-expanding awareness, which is a delightful gift! May we grow in our awareness every day.
In Love & Light,
Carol
