Is it possible to be a proud and humble at the same time? I think so. But in order to understand how we can balance pride and humility we need to turn to scripture (the Bible).
“Manly” Conversations
This past Thanksgiving weekend our family was invited to a baby shower. As I was speaking with someone in the kitchen, in the living room area sat most of the husbands of the wives of whom were invited speaking about “manly” things.
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As I approached to join them in their “manly” conversation one of the men started speaking about his yearly earnings. Then another man started speaking about his earnings. Then another joined in the “stick measuring” game.
What’s Your Intention
I’m sure you familiar with these types of conversations. The conversations where everyone is comparing and trying to “one-up” one another. It doesn’t always have to be comparing our fortunes, but how about our misfortunes. You know the conversations that usually go as follows: “You think you have it bad?! Well I…”
How about the conversations where parents’ “measuring sticks” become their children’s extracurricular accomplishments. One set of parents usually mentions how their son plays AAA hockey three times a week and goes to an evening academy to get an extra math credit. The other set of parents might respond by saying how their daughter not only is also doing night school, but is also taking dance classes four days in a row and is planning on playing rep basketball on weekends.
Is Pride Always Bad?
It’s important to understand that being proud of having a good income, feeling overwhelmed by a misfortune, or being proud of our children’s accomplishments are not bad things. This is good pride. So when does good pride cross the line and become bad pride?
Striking a Balance
The line is crossed when boasting takes place for the sake of comparison. The Apostle Paul and Jesus demonstrate this well in today’s Second Reading and Gospel respectively.
First, as Paul is writing his letter to Timothy in a Roman jail, Paul knows well that his execution is approaching. In the letter Paul proceeds to share with Timothy all his hardships and his accomplishments as an apostle. Paul doesn’t share his pride to minimize Timothy’s dignity, but rather to inspire Timothy to become an even greater apostle than he was.
Similarly, Jesus tells a parable of two proud men. The first is a Pharisee who is immensely proud of keeping all the religious observances and thanks God for not making him like all other “sinners.” The second is a tax collector, who is very aware of his past sins of cheating people out of money. The tax collector recognizes his sins and comes to God as he is; stripped of his false pride with no veil between him and God. Complete vulnerability and humility.
Conclusion
To strike a balance between pride and humility we must look to St. Paul and the tax collector. Like Paul and the tax collector it’s important that we are in touch with our brokenness and own up to our faults. Most importantly, we should always be infinitely grateful for our material success and the achievements of our children. Whenever we share the things we are proud of it should always be to elevate the dignity of other, never to diminish them. This is humility.
Question: In your opinion, how do you strike a balance between pride and humility?
