Humble pie


These last few days have been very difficult for me.

Actually, the whole last year and a half has been difficult for me.

I know why, too. It’s because I’ve been praying for humility. Don’t ever do that.

See, I remembered back to my mission when a talk in a zone conference or something said that the best way to get the gifts of the spirit, like spirituality, humility, charity, healing, etc… was to pray for them. I was feeling in need of a little humility, so I started praying for it.

I’ve been paying for it ever since.

Somehow I’d forgotten some of the analogies that the Lord uses when he talks about humbling people, like mountains crumbling and valleys exalting, and other geological calamities.

Somehow I had imagined that a little blue good fairy with gentle wings and a flowing robe would drift down from heaven while I was sleeping. He’d wave a magic wand over my head, sprinkle a little humble dust, mutter some magic words, like “OK, you’re humble now…” And then he would whisk off to his next gig, like my neighbor’s house (who REALLY needs the humility, believe me!).

Well, I did get a good fairy, but not quite like I expected.

He was big, tall, with muscles out to here, and instead of a magic wand he carried a baseball bat.

“Hey, is you the one what wanted a good humbling?”

Uhh. No, I think you want my neighbor…

“Nope. This here’s the right address. This shouldn’t take long.”

(This is the part where you insert things like “Pow”, “Wham”, “Ooff”, and “Ouch!”)

I wouldn’t have minded so much if his parting words hadn’t been, “That’ll do for starters. See ya next week!”

The Lord said, “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” -Ether 12:27

I haven’t quite come to that last part yet, where the weak things are made strong. But I suppose that eventually I’ll get there, if I keep at it.

And I suppose that if it didn’t hurt, it wouldn’t be humility, now, would it?

But still they call it humble pie, and isn’t pie supposed to be sweet?

*sigh*

MRKH
Mark Hansen
http://markhansenmusic.com