June 5

HUMILITY MONTH: DAY 5: “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.” ― Ernest Hemingway

I sometimes read books written by highly inspiring individuals who then fall from grace with their humanity in sad and sometimes silly ways. This serves as a reminder we are all, first of all and lastly, human. None of them has (to my knowledge) ascended into and dived deeply into the realms of the super-spiritual upon their demise. So, no matter how highly elevated we may become in our spiritual quest, none of us is above our human frailties. So it is good to know that there are no masters and there are no saints walking around at this time. Our humanity and our proclivity toward error keeps us on the ground where our feet live and gives the rest of the world the same permission to live with their humanity out in the open, letting air circulate through the transparency of our lives. So humility may sometimes overtake us when the world of ego takes us to a dropping-off point and we have to die to become authentic. How well can I tolerate those things of the ego that give me an exalted sense of self and my worth or value to the world? Evidently, not well. Because my experience in the world is not of ego-based things at this time. I am happier without them, I know, although I still want them from time to time. I have feet placed on the material plane…and we ALL know about my love of shoes, of course! Haha…too true. I have not yet transcended any spiritual heights in this time, but I long to, and I believe that will keep me on my course for a while yet. My heart knows the truth every time. So we must all be aware of the tendency we have to honor others above their station and to place them on pedestals where they will surely tumble down and hurt themselves. I love many things about many people, but their humanity remains grounded on the reality that they may not be able to walk their talk all the way down the road. I just had a conversation with a friend about this and gave the analogy of being on the path with a certain teacher and riding in their car. Sometimes they veer off the road that I think I want to go down and I have to get out of their car and travel in a different vehicle or maybe even a different road to go where I am headed. It doesn’t mean they are on the wrong road, just that it no longer suits me. My tendency is to make them wrong so I can feel that I am right, but that is NOT the point. The point is to just allow them to go down the road that belongs to them and I have to stay to the road that belongs to me. Only ego tells me that I am the only one who is right. About a zillion forms of right exist in this Universe…all of them are equal…my right is only one of them. In fact, everyone is right, all the time, sitting where they are sitting. I just need to change my seat so I can be where I need to be to see what the next thing is on MY path, on MY road. Any traveler going my way can travel with me for a while, I might even be with them when they drive, but few will stick it out all the way to the end. That is always my experience, and my teachers have come and gone…I am grateful for them all and the time and the teaching they bring to my life is powerful and without parallel.