On Ash Wednesday, one verbiage option for the distribution of ashes is, “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The word “humility” comes from the Latin humilitas, which itself is derived from humus, which refers to earth or soil. Humility does not mean falsely pretending to have lesser qualities or stature than one actually does, however. Humility means fully knowing exactly who and what one really is, down to the very core. Real humility means acknowledging all of the goodness, talents, and merits that we possess. But it also means acknowledging that we are not the source of these goods. Everything good that we are and possess comes from God.
God created everything from nothing. We did not create ourselves. We did not create the world we inhabit. We cannot sustain ourselves in existence even for a single moment by our own power. Everything that is exists solely because God intentionally holds it in existence at every second in his infinite love. In true humility, we recognize the incredible created dignity, beauty, and abilities of the human person. In the same breath, we acknowledge all of our weaknesses, faults, shortcomings, and limitations.
The cultivation of true humility and self-knowledge is an essential component spiritual growth. We can only come to a true appreciation for God’s love and mercy when we have come to know the smallness and fallenness of our own hearts. Let’s be brutally honest: looking at ourselves clearly can be painful and scary. Recognizing our own littleness can be terrifying. The good news for us, however, is that we have a God who knows us better than we could ever know ourselves, and who wants to care for us in every possible way. When we look at ourselves in true humility, we recognize our own littleness. But we also recognize that God will do everything for us if we adopt a disposition of receptivity and allow him to care for us as the beloved children that we really are.