Today's thought from Hazelden is:

Reflection for the Day

What is the definition of humility? "Absolute humility," said AA co- founder Bill W., "would consist of a state of complete freedom from myself, freedom from all the claims that my defects of character now lay so heavily upon me. Perfect humility would be a full willingness, in all times and places, to find and to do the will of God."
Am I striving for humility?

Today I Pray

May God expand my interpretation of humility beyond abject subservience or awe at the greatness of others. May humility also mean freedom from myself, a freedom, which can come only through turning my being over to God's will. May I sense the omnipotence of God, which is simultaneously humbling and exhilarating. May I be willing to carry out God's will.

Today I Will Remember

Humility is freedom.


Wow! Yesterday's mass was about judging people just like part of the book, "The Shack" was and today I hear about humility which was also a topic of the book. Both topics are things I've wrestled with and here they are for me to see.

Do I judge people? Yes. I used to judge them very harshly, comparing them to my rigid definition of what is right and wrong. Today I know that things, and people for that matter, are not always in black and white. There are shades of gray but there are also every shade in the rainbow present. It is not for me to judge them. My job is to love and accept them as they are. That's been a hard lesson for me.

I was back to judging people. My neighbors gripe and complain about every little thing. They are all retired and have little to do all day but look for things that are out of order or wrong. It gets on my nerves hearing about it. I want to ask, "Do you have anything to be grateful about?" But I leave it alone. I just get up and walk back into the house so that I don't have to hear any of it. I realize that it is their problem not mine.

Humility is something I think we are lacking as a human race. We don't have enough of it and I've said that for some time. I strove to be humble. Then I realized it was something that I could not do just as patience isn't anything I can work for. I either have it or I don't. Time is teaching me what I need to know. As I let go of things and give them to God I learn to accept things and people as they are. As I look for Christ in myself and others I learn to love others as they are. When I can love myself and accept God's will rather than my own, humility and patience will come.

In the meantime, I battle myself. I have to tell myself that the opinion of others does not matter. What they think is irrelevant. That's hard. I'm a natural born people pleaser. I also have to tell myself that it isn't up to me to fix things. I can only change myself.

These days I've got my hands full with family and health matters. I don't get lonely but I do wish I had someone in my life to occasionally rescue me from myself. It would be nice to have someone present to call me on my stuff or distract me when I become too analytical. I don't have that right now.