Humility

Humility won't gain you love from everyone, Sirach says, but it will from those God accepts.

My child, perform your tasks with humility; then you will be loved by those whom God accepts. The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself; so you will find favour in the sight of the Lord. For great is the might of the Lord; but by the humble he is glorified. Neither seek what is too difficult for you, nor investigate what is beyond your power. Reflect upon what you have been commanded, for what is hidden is not your concern. Do not meddle in matters that are beyond you, for more than you can understand has been shown to you. For their conceit has led many astray, and wrong opinion has impaired their judgement. Without eyes there is no light; without knowledge there is no wisdom. A stubborn mind will fare badly at the end, and whoever loves danger will perish in it. A stubborn mind will be burdened by troubles, and the sinner adds sin to sins. When calamity befalls the proud, there is no healing, for an evil plant has taken root in him. The mind of the intelligent appreciates proverbs, and an attentive ear is the desire of the wise. As water extinguishes a blazing fire, so almsgiving atones for sin.  Those who repay favours give thought to the future; when they fall they will find support. - Sirach 3:17-31

The words of wisdom in today's reading include a line that makes me wonder.

Neither seek what is too difficult for you, nor investigate what is beyond your power. 

I understand where he is coming from.  When we seek grandness, we tend to do so without humility, but if we don't strive fr the impossible, we won't try to make the bad things better, the poor richer, the unemployed self-sufficient.

I do think we can do these things without conceit, to offer up the challenges to God with humility, to seek the support and strength of the Holy Spirit and go into the unknown with confidence, trust in God to do what we cannot do on our own.

Yes, we need to be conscious of our pride.  It is too tempting to take a bow for all that we help bring to fruition, but if we remind ourselves that we are merely instruments of God, we can accept the accolades with grace and attribute them where they belong.

So, we learn in this excerpt that there is a time for listening to the words of God's messengers, as we have here, but we should give thought to the future and seek God's favor in our efforts to make this a better place for all.

More to come...