Humbly Ignorant

Do you know anyone that you would describe as humble?  What it is about them that makes you use this description?  To me, someone who is humble is fully aware of their talents or gifts, but draws no attention to them or expects any special treatment because of them.  Humility is choosing to put others before yourself because it is the right thing to do.  If someone is unaware of their talents or gifts, I do not think you can call that humility.  To be humble is to be modest about your strengths and respectfully assign more importance to others.  Humility is a choice you make.  Humility is an action verb (though perhaps quite passive). 

It is becoming harder and harder to find truly humble characters in youth fiction.  What I do see are characters who are unable to see their own strengths and as such, only use them when they are forced.  Katniss is no exception to this trend.  She is unaware of her appeal.  She realizes her strengths as a hunter but not as a leader.  Frequently, Katniss will think that someone is making fun of her instead of realizing they are complimenting her.  Haymitch is one character that seems to be aware of his strengths without flaunting them; however, he hides from the world in alcohol. 

The Bible calls us to know our strengths and the talents that God has given us.  We are to use them humbly.  Wisdom goes quite nicely with humility.  You can have a great deal of knowledge and acquire the discernment to use it wisely; but if you are not humble in how you interact with others you will soon find that wisdom is very lonely.

·         If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble.                                     Romans 11:17-20

·         In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
 ⁶ Who, being in very nature God,
   did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
   by taking the very nature of a servant,
   being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
   he humbled himself
   by becoming obedient to death—
      even death on a cross!                               Philippians 2:5-8

·         He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. ⁷ That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁸ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
 ⁹ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” ¹⁰ Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.                                                            Luke 7:6-10

Twilight Tuesday 8 (A Grand Destiny)

In the Twilight series, Bella is an ordinary girl, with brown hair and a tendency to bump into things and fall.  Of course, young girls want to be Bella!  You can be desirable in all these ordinary ways and find out that you aren’t so ordinary after all.  Bella was born to be an eternally beautiful, filthy rich, globe trotting vampire with a husband who is just as obsessed with her as she is with him.  We want to be surprised one day that our days of mundane life have paid off in such a way too!  She didn’t have to study for years to get these things.  She didn’t have to work for it or gain life experience for years before it was an option.  All Bella had to do was be a “good” average person; she moves to her dad’s house as a kindness to her mother, though her mother doesn’t know it, and finds the fulfillment for her life. 

            What Edward can offer your daughter is eternal youth and devastating good-looks.  She will become hotter than a super model without having to diet and work out.  Edward has endless time, money, and energy to offer for the adventure.  He is older and more mature despite his youthful appearance.  He is the ultimate sugar daddy without the weird Oedipal/Electra complex. 

            The exciting action of this series isn’t simply how a vegetarian vampire or a reluctant werewolf woos a young human girl with “no natural instinct for self-preservation.”  There are numerous times when lives are at stake (no pun intended).   In the Twilight series, Heroism means to dodge danger with no fear to yourself but a complete focus on others’ lives.  Selfishness is not a quality tolerated well by characters in these books.  But what gives meaning to the characters’ lives is primarily based in their relationships (this is at its heart, a romance series).