WALK THE ROAD TO HUMILITY

THE ROAD TO HUMILITY

They say humility is a virtue. They say it is worth having. However, because it is so rare, I am not sure enough people develop it. Those who discover the process normally prefer to remain as they are. The path to humility is humiliation!

Few things strike terror in the soul of a person as to be humiliated. In some parts of the east, people would rather kill themselves than face it. In the west, public disgrace and loss of wealth has made some give up life. In other places of the world, shame has made great men cry and women deny that it is happening to them. This is the path to humility.

Humility is when you realize, "I am no better, no more brilliant and no more necessary than any other thing". And that, "it can happen to me, at any time". Humility is to know that I am no more in control of my future than a flower by the road or a feather riding the breeze. I do not know when and if my turn of suffering will come. Someone else is in charge. Humility is to know that all men are equal, and that before God, none has a right to stand. Humility is to submit to fate without hate and bow to divine will.

I know one proud man who lived in beautiful home beside a small stream. He though himself rich. One night, in the dry season, the stream rose to a flood and washed away his house. In his eyes, he stood naked as his neighbors dressed and fed him. There was nothing he could do. He was no longer in control. What he had was gone. There he stood, humiliated by a small stream. Did he become humble? Well, some people simply rebel. But the person I am talking about is not him; it is you. Do you become humble after you are humiliated or do you rebel?

If you want to be humble, know that the path to humility is not designed by you. You are not in control. Humiliation is a place where people go, find or face themselves. Some never return. Some return humble while others come back angry, loud and proud. No wonder most people would rather be anything else than humble.

Allan Bukusi