"Pauper, Pauper"/The Power of Humility

One of the most beautiful Communion hymns is Panis Angelicus, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr9Do5ZxPZA, this is a beautiful version on youtube .)

Part of the translation into English is, "Pauper, Pauper... your humble servant; you have given us the Bread of Angels, the Bread of Heaven, O, the miracle!"  

After waking up tomorrow morning, you will start your day with certain intentions, plans and responsibilities.  Things may be going according to expectations, then, oops, you spill your morning cup of java all over the floor, your clothes.  Now, you’re running late, you rush through the door at work, flip the switch on your computer and as you’re reviewing your e-mail with little enthusiasm, suddenly there is a crying co-worker standing next to you.  She needs your support.  These are very simple disruptions that all of us encounter in our daily life, seldom does your day end with every plan and expectation met perfectly, no surprises.  Sometimes the interruptions are more serious, occasionally, utterly shocking and life changing.   

 One day, as I was pondering this inevitability, a thought occurred to me.  

Suppose we look at our daily plans as an internal force propelling us along a straight line, like the straight beam of Our Lord's cross.  

Furthermore, as the inevitable obstacles begin to cross our path,  suppose we liken them to the cross bar on which Our Lord's arms were stretched and nailed.   

Suddenly, it was as though He was entering the "conversation."  What does that "crossbar" do for you?  Do you see it as an opportunity?  It places you at the center of salvation, where man meets God, where the mystery of love acts.

It reminded me of a section of Dostoevsky's novel, The Brothers Karamozov: 

Dostoevsky’s character, Zosima, in The Brothers Karamozov, states, …”Loving humility is a terrible force:  it is the strongest of all things, and there is nothing else like it.”  Father Kallistos Ware in The Orthodox Way, continues, “whenever we give up anything, or suffer anything, not with a sense of rebellious bitterness, but willingly and out of love, that makes us not weaker, but stronger. 

So what are we saying here?  Yes, something as small as a spilled cup of coffee can have an altering and salutary effect on the world, depending on the degree of love with which it is born.  Father Ware also states that love is creative, transforming, an objective reality, just as hatred, is de-structive.  It is a mystery, the mystery. 

Next time, the dog surprises your morning with a dastardly deed...don't let that "crossbar" go to waste.  Offer it up into that great mystery of Love, it may be the most creative act of love in your day!

Pauper, Pauper...in your weakness is your strength.