by Rev. Deb Beloved Church
As an Edgar Abbey character famously said, “I thought I was wrong once, but I found out later I was mistaken.”
So it’s not just me who thinks so highly of themselves! Me? Wrong about something? Nah!
My opinions are so well-thought-out; my perspectives, so sincere! My thinking is so thoughtful; my analyses, so all-encompassing!
If you were open-minded enough, if you were more loving, surely you’d come to the same conclusions as I have…
Who’s with me??
Apparently not the 8th-century BCE Israelite prophet Micah, who famously declared: “God has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)
In a course we’re using at White Rock Presbyterian Church (“The After Party: Toward Better Christian Politics”), David French, one of the course facilitators, characterizes humility, in part, as “this understanding that I could be wrong about any given issue.”
That way of thinking seems a far cry from how many, if not most, of us (myself included) think–particularly at this time in the life of our country.
Many, if not most, of us struggle to consistently engage with others with that kind of mindset–with an acknowledgement that we might be wrong, with a recognition that we do not fully understand all of the complexities of any given issue.Many, if not most, of us struggle to reliably show up in the world with this version of humility.
But it is so desperately needed. And for us who claim to be people of faith, not only does the world desperately need it, but according to Micah, our God unquestionably requires it.
So how do we move in that direction?
I think one way is for us to simply say those words out loud: “I could be wrong.”
And then say them again–into the mirror, to a loved one, while we’re driving, while we’re taking in the news, while we’re rehearsing our arguments in support of our clearly right views on any given topic.
“I could be wrong.”
“I could be wrong.”
“I could be wrong.”
…and then show up in the world, show up in conversations, show up in relationships, from that place, in that mental space, with that perspective guiding us. And see what happens…
And in the meantime, we can try to remember that we and “the other(s)” (whether they agree with us or dare to think differently…!) are God’s beloved. We and they are God’s beloved. Perhaps that, too, bears repeating—in the mirror, to a loved one, while we’re taking in the news, etc.
All of us, in all of our incomplete understandings and our complexity and our arrogance and our woeful lack of true humility, are fundamentally loved by God. Period. We all are God’s beloved. And that just might be enough to bind us together. Or at least give us reason to consider, “I could be wrong…”
Will you walk with me on this path toward humility? It’s so desperately needed.