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Last week I tried to save $5 on coffee beans by buying a pound of Don Francisco's instead of Peets. At some point in the last four years, I turned into a hopeless coffee snob, and so on this particular day I wanted to prove to myself that I could be a humble coffee drinker. ("Instant Folgers coffee? I'd love some!") I paid for my bag of cheap drugs and left the grocery store feeling very satisfied with myself.
The next morning I took one sip of my new Don Francisco's coffee and promptly pitched the whole bag of beans. Then I went to Starbucks for an iced Americano. So much for saving money.
My job requires me to spend a lot of time in Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, and I often run across strange and unusual words--like widdershins, sticky wicket, nudnik, quaggy, and scrofulous.
But today I lingered over a very familiar and somewhat boring word: humble.
Its definition keeps nagging at me. "On the ground; not arrogant or assertive; reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission; ranking low in a hierarchy or scale; insignificant, unpretentious; not costly or luxurious."
On the ground.
Not assertive.
Ranking low.
Not costly.
Not luxurious....
I was curious to know how this compared with the Bible's definition and use of humble, so I did a little research and found that one of the Greek words for humble, tapeino, means "to level, reduce to a plain; to be ranked below others who are honored or rewarded; reduce to meaner circumstances."
I went to an Angels baseball game on Tuesday night. An announcer came over the loud speaker and to a crowd of 45,000 said something like, "Kindness and courtesy are contagious. Try being courteous and watch others follow your lead." I'd say no one was listening--trying to get out of the parking lot after the game was like a bad hour-long chicken fight.
And I wonder... how do we pursue humility, what does it look like to be humble, in a culture that feeds our pride and screams, "You're worth it! It's all about you!"?
