If there is a quest for humility, it would elude most of us. I mentioned last Sunday, about the time you think you have a handle on this characteristic, that’s the time when it will slip through your fingers. The tendency is to seek to become humble and then be proud of it. As I reviewed some of the literature and testimonies on the matter, I’ve observed a couple of things. Like the ability to express a good sense of humor in marriage, likewise having children helps many adults understand the phenomenon of humility just a little better. Just when you think you’re making progress in this parenting thing, one of your children comes along and mimics you. And the last thing you want to see demonstrated publicly is your weak lapse in language choice or a temper that got quickly out of control. Then there’s a piece of literature entitled, Litany of Humility. According to a biographical report on the Supreme Court written by Jan Crawford Greenburg, Justice Clarence Thomas desires to be “inoculated against popular opinion.” One of the ways that he accomplishes this desire is demonstrated in his fondness of the above mentioned Litany… Some of the content of that work includes the following: O Jesus! Meek and humble of heart, Hear me. From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus…from the desire of being extolled…from the desire of being honored…from the desire of being praised…from the desire of being preferred to others…from the desire of being consulted…from the desire of being approved…from the fear of being humiliated…from the fear of being despised…from the fear of suffering rebukes…from the fear of being [slandered] from the fear of being forgotten from the fear of being ridiculed…from the fear of being wronged…from the fear of being suspected… It is a list that causes you to think that you hear I Corinthians 13 in the background! Somewhere in the above list is at least one concern that probably affects each of us. And when you think about it, “desire” and “fear” may be the Siamese twins of our inability to live a life marked by humility. Anyway, that’s the way I see it…