“Humility is to know that we have our being ‘on loan’ from God.”
St Maximos the Confessor(1)
Reflection:
St Maximos the Confessor(2) helps us recognize that our very life, and everything in it are gifts from God. An acknowledgment that humbles us, naturally filling our hearts with gratitude. St Maximos also emphasizes the significance of gratitude saying:
Gratitude Equals Humility(3)
In order to say 'thank you', we must have the humility to recognize that someone did something for us, and we did not do it on our own. Our mind, soul, and body are gifts from God, and we are called to take special care of and tend to these gifts that make up our person.
When we care for our entire being, we show gratitude toward God who created us. It is like ‘self-care’, but rooted in God Who created our ‘self’. It is watching how we think about ourselves(4), caring how we speak/act towards others and multiplying our ‘talents’, like Christ describes in the Gospel(5). We take all that we are given to improve ourselves, and allow with humility for Christ to fill in where we 'fall short'.
Humility is found in what St Paisios the Athonite defines as Philotimo(6), the Orthodox Christian disposition of the heart(7). Humility comes first from gratitude toward God for all He has done for us(8), and secondly by recognizing that we are not perfect. This leads us to repentance, changing the way we live, and giving it all to God while giving our best efforts.
Once we live in gratefulness each day, we cannot help but sacrifice our time and efforts for everyone. Giving to God and others helps to heal our mind, soul, and body. It is then that we are on the road to having a humble heart, wherein Christ will dwell.
References:
1) St Maximos the Confessor, On the Lord’s Prayer in Philokalia V2. pg 297.
2) Read More about St Maximos the Confessor 7th Century Saint
3) “Continuous thanksgiving intercedes for our weaknesses.” St Barsanuphius (6th Century) / “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” St Paul Colossians 3:15 / “If you increase your awareness of the presence of God, then you will increase your gratitude toward God. Now you say the “Our Father” and you don’t feel anything… but if you felt that God is indeed your Father, you wouldn’t be able to bear saying those words!” -St Paisios pg 287 V. 5
4) “Thoughts are like airplanes flying in the air. If you ignore them, there is no problem. If you pay attention to them, you create an airport inside your head and permit them to land.” - St Paisios the Athonite
5)Matthew 25 14-30 Parable of the Talents
6) For Philotimo: See My Orthodox Notebook entry from 07/10/2020 - Click Here
7) Matthew 10:5-8 “Freely you have received, freely give.”
8) YouTube on relationship between Joy and Gratitude Gratitude invites joy into our lives, because true unending joy is unity with Christ and one another in the Church.
