Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Humble Greatness

“The concert impresario, Sol Hurok, liked to say that Marian Anderson hadn't simply grown great, she'd grown great simply. He says: "A few years ago a reporter interviewed Marian and asked her to name the greatest moment in her life. I was in her dressing room at the time and was curious to hear the answer. I knew she had many big moments to choose from. There was the night Toscanini told her that hers was the finest voice of the century. There was the private concert she gave at the White House for the Roosevelts and the King and Queen of England. She had received the $10,000 Bok Award as the person who had done the most for her hometown, Philadelphia. To top it all, there was that Easter Sunday in Washington when she stood beneath the Lincoln statue and sang for a crowd of 75,000, which included Cabinet members, Supreme Court Justices, and most members of Congress. Which of those big moments did she choose? "None of them," said Hurok. "Miss Anderson told the reporter that the greatest moment of her life was the day she went home and told her mother she wouldn't have to take in washing anymore”” (Alan Loy McGinnis, The Friendship Factor, p. 30).
It is difficult to resist the lure of self-importance when others are heaping praise upon us. It is very easy for fame and fortune to go to our heads.  Rare is the individual who remains humble when the accolades begin to pile up.  The admonition of Peter remains just as important today as it was when it was first written.  He reminds believers to “...clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time…” (1 Peter 5:5–6).
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, its thinking of yourself less” (C.S. Lewis).


God loves you!

Mike

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