It would be tough to imagine American students kneeling in front of teachers. I think it would appear too subservient or beneath them. But if we can remember why we kneel, then we can maybe start down a path we all want to take. We kneel to show humility, not subservience, and by kneeling these students immediately show a respectfulness and a courtesy for others. It is the opposite of ego, of boastfulness, of arrogance. It is saying not "me first", but no you first my friend. I really enjoy going through a buffet line last. It is a simple pleasure I get by saying, "No it is your turn first, my friend, my colleague, my brother." By being humble it allows communication to happen. It is saying I want to go more than halfway to meet you where you are, and I am on my knees and expressing your interests and your wants first.
Humility does not deny our self or our worth, but rather it affirms the worth of each and every human being we see or meet. And by affirming the value of others first, it triumphs us also. So we say, "Here I am my brother, meeting you down on my knees to listen before I speak, help before I ask favor, love before I am loved." It, our humility, is the ultimate risk, it is asking us to show love to show that we care before we know it will be reciprocated. And sometimes our humility is not met immediately with compassion or love, it can be met with derision or hate or indifference. And in these cases, we must be true to ourselves, we must understand that by kneeling, by being humble, we have truly gained. We have sacrificed ourselves and the needs of ourselves for others. We are truly then "Men and Women for Others."
I am sitting on a bed, typing this blog, and looking at my feet, which still bear some stains of the incredible red mud that is prevalent all over Africa. All of us in our travels, riding in dusty Mutatus joked about how dirty our feet were. Most of us, kind of gave up, on cleaning our feet, and just tried to keep the rest of our body clean. It is this setting, at 48 years old, looking at my still somewhat dirty feet, that I can really understand the incredible humility of Jesus' washing of the feet. And just as important, how enjoyable it must have felt, as an apostle, having your friend, your brother, wash your feet. To kneel before you, and be that humble--that is my goal. To be humble, is to live at peace, and borrowing this line from the website "twopaths.com"----"Humility dissipates anger and heals old wounds. Humility allows us to see the dignity and worth of all God's people. Humility distinguishes the wise leader from the arrogant power seeker." And kneeling on the concrete or the hard wood pews in the churches of Gulu, I tried my best on bad knees to say to my Acholi brothers and sisters. That I was not better than them. I was just a man who was born into abundance and great wealth in the United States. But the wealth, I am seeking on my knees with you, the Acholi, is a far better prize.
A couple of years ago in a visit to the Jesuit Volunteer house, I saw the following quote which I have, of course, used on a basketball t-shirt for my team.
"The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker."
Several of you have praised my efforts in going to Africa, and treat me now as the mighty hero. But I strive to think of my actions, not as the hero, but as one of many honest workers giving the tiniest push. I met so many people in Africa doing more, taking bigger risks than what I have accomplished in the last six weeks. And also if you think of me as a hero, of someone accomplishing a great task, than it is easier for you not to act. But if you consider my actions in their true context, of just one tiny push, then you can do something. You might not have the same talents or the same opportunities, but there is always something that each of us can do. When I tell people, we are going to end hunger and extreme poverty by 2025, I am occasionally met by the skeptic. They say things like that will never work or others have tried and failed and if you look at the enormity of that goal it seems impossible. But if you look at each of us giving one tiny push, and I have met many in Africa giving those tiny pushes, then all of a sudden we can see the world beginning to move little by little. And once we get it moving, you never know what WE can accomplish.
I found out that the quote actually starts this way. "I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker."
So there my friends is the simple answer, I will continue to strive to accomplish the humble tasks, and to do that I have to start at the beginning. Just like my Acholi students, I will begin on my knees.
peace,
john
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