Surprising Grace

I spent the last 8 days making a “silent retreat” at a beautiful Jesuit retreat centre just outside of Manila. Such a retreat – Ignatian-style – involves quieting oneself and giving time for a certain amount of prayer and reflection each day with the aim of reconnecting with God, oneself, and nature, usually with the help of a guide to whom you talk each day about your inner process. Going on retreat, it occurred to me this year, is a bit like going up a mountain. In the whirlwind of work, play and activity that fills our days, we sometimes lose track of where we have come from and where we are going – or why we are going anywhere at all! It is only when we are on the mountain, gazing down at the road we have travelled in our daily experience, that we regain a sense of the bigger picture: yes, I have travelled that road, and look how far I have come! Looking down at the paths by which we have come gives a deeper sense of meaning and direction to the daily grind; the flurry of busy...

"Humility" is a much-prized Christian virtue (though perhaps somewhat less practiced!). So I remember being surprised when once I mentioned this in a conversation with a friend who was not a Christian and he was puzzled. "Is humility a good thing?" he asked. "Isn't it better to be proud?" When Afra sent me the reflection posted here on Thursday , then, I was curious and asked her what "humility" meant to her. "It is not thinking less about myself," she said (quoting), "but thinking about myself less. It also means that God's love is enough. My life is for God and others." Another explanation someone else insightfully gave me once was that: "Humility is accepting the truth about yourself". So, understood in this way humility isn't about having low self-esteem, or putting ourselves down, or letting ourselves be walked over like doormats -- which would NOT be a virtue! Rather, it has something to do...