“Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.” – Thomas Merton

so i have had a lot of time to really, truly, deeply think. and i have arrived at this internal conviction: that pride is as subtle as it is dangerous; it will corrode the soul while hardening the heart.  [selah]

wendell berry, a brilliant farmer-poet and essayist, notes that ‘teachers are everywhere. what is wanted is a learner.’ humility must always accompany a learner, for when we believe ourselves to be above every other teacher, humility is below us and learning no longer our primary aim.

and tonight. as i reflect upon merton and foreman and as i consider the grace and beauty of my incredible wife, i can only stand in awe of the brokenness which accompanies humility – which is precisely what is required of GOD and needed of man. a brokenness which can only be seen by someone looking into the mirror with eyes that want to see.

thomas merton, the trappist monk from france via kentucky, so wonderfully noted that ‘pride makes us artificial’.

how apropos that the etymology of ‘artificial’ dates back to the 14th century and carries the meaning, “made by man”.

i believe pride is made by man and used by man to make a facade of man. [selah]

and that facade needs breaking if what lies underneath is to see the light of day ever again. it needs to be made real. humility is what makes us real time after time. we need to be broken souls again. to be refined. to be made low: to be made whole.

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despite my unbelief, i believe that who i am is a son of the only living god & king, YHVH [blessed be his name]. a son of the resurrection. a son of the wind which bends all things.