June 27

HUMILITY MONTH: DAY 27: “You cannot be truly humble, unless you truly believe that life can and will go on without you.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

The ego fears death. The spirit knows better. We have, within us, the seed of understanding all there is to know about this stuff. We have become so intent on listening to the shrill voice of Ego that we are deaf to the quiet certitude of the soul.

When we live with the joy of each moment, in that moment, with no thought of lasting legacy or being around for more than that moment, we can get lost in spirit. It is lovely and brings us so close to the core of self that we forget all those things that Ego tells us to stay on top of or to strive to get and hold.

The idea of impermanence, ours or others’ is terrifying for Ego. This is the theme of every lie we are telling ourselves to stay front and center and in control of this thing called life.

We cling and grasp and grab and dig in our feet in an attempt to win the battle against aging and death. We spend billions of dollars on anti-aging processes, believing wrinkles are the work of Satan, who only opposes Spirit to begin with.

We work and grab at youth as the capstone of life itself. Why? Is there anything appealing about being young? Not really, it is mostly a time of uncertainty and terror for most of us. We don’t yet have enough experience to appreciate the things that youth allows. We don’t truly know what to do with it anyway. Only in hindsight can we see the beauty and treasure of being young.

I believe we do this because aging presents a different picture, one our culture likes to deny. Life itself is being denied by our culture. We do not know how to appreciate wisdom, which only comes after we have been here long enough to travel down many, many roads and learned the lessons that only the ignorant can learn.

We appreciate youth for all the wrong reasons. The ascetics are okay, but the content isn’t really worth anything until it has gained some time and ripening. We grow into this as we age. When we refuse to allow the process, we are stunting our own growth and that of others.

It is like the aging of a fine wine. The bottle may be beautiful, but the contents are not any good for a long time to come. And aging is again, the most humbling of all human experiences.