Humility confesses that we have nothing that we have not received and admits the fact of our insufficiency and our dependence upon God. It is the basis of all Christian virtues. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux said, ‘No spiritual house can stand for a moment except on the foundation of humility’. It is the first condition of a joyful life within any community.
Joe Oldham, ecumenical pioneer,
would kneel at people’s feet in meetings, not
to wash their feet, but just so he could hear
their words. He had no self-conceit;
would not let deafness stop him listening
and honouring what others had to say.
Humility is not about belittling
ourselves, false modesty, shying away
from public opportunities to serve;
humility looks outward, and finds joy
in others’ quirks and foibles, helps us love
ourselves as God loves. Pride cannot destroy
the house built on this rock, where love drives out
the enervating virus of self-doubt.
Joseph Houldsworth Oldham was a Scottish missionary, who had a major role in the founding of the World Council of Churches. The story of how he would kneel at guests’ feet was told to me by Kathleen Bliss, a colleague of Oldham and pioneer of ecumenism and Christian feminism when I visited her in the early 1980s as part of some research into the origins of the World Council of Churches – research which came to nothing, but left an impression on me of a group of dedicated, idealistic and selfless people wanting to move with God’s Spirit.
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