Sometimes I make assumptions that are incorrect. Humility to me is when I take the time to pause. Stop. Listen. Then ask questions, without assuming I know the answer. -Beth Murray (CLF)
When has a humble moment in your life led you somewhere unexpected?
I receive your “Ouch” with openness and curiosity.
I receive your “Oops” with acceptance and empathy.
I offer my “Ouch” with hope and trust.
I offer my “Oops” with humility and courage.
I release my “Ouch” with immeasurable faith.
I release my “Oops” with purpose.
I release your “Ouch” with promise.
I release your “Oops” with my eyes and heart open.
-Atena O. Danner, from Incantations for Rest
How do you practice making and receiving apologies?
I’ve always loved visualizations of deep time — those huge timelines that remind us that all of human existence on this planet is contained in a tiny speck at the end of time as we can imagine it. Reminders our smallness in the scope of time offer a kind of nourishing humility; it doesn’t mean that what I do during my own time here doesn’t matter, but it helps to counteract the toxic human-centrism of our culture. This world isn’t and has never been primarily about us, and carrying the humility of that can offer us so much wisdom, grace, and relief. -Rose Gallogly (CLF)
What helps you to feel your humble and right-sized place in the full scope of existence?
“Today, transcending boundaries is hard work. For one thing, I’ve created more of them since I was young, and I’ve built them higher and stronger than they once were. For another thing, I’m much more self-righteous and much less humble than I was then. Sometimes, when I am at my best, I remember that the “other” I distinguish myself from could be me in another time, another place, another circumstance.” -From “Transcending Boundaries,” by Yvonne Seon
How do you do the work of transcending boundaries?
“The concern which I lay bare before God today is my need to be better:
I want to be better than I am in my most ordinary day-by-day contacts:
With my friends—
With my family—
With my casual contacts—
With my business relations—
With my associates in work and play.
I want to be better than I am in the responsibilities that are mine….” -Howard Thurman
How do you want to be better?
