himself will be humbled and you and learn from me for I am
whosoever humbles himself gentle and humble in heart and
will be exalted." you will find rest for your soul."
Matthew 23:12 Matthew 11:29
Often we walk out to a hill that stands about 150' above the surrounding countryside. The view is amazing. I cannot say why but as I stand on that high place I feel as though I am bigger than I really am -- exalted. I doubt very much that climbing onto a high peak in the Rockies would provide me with a better feeling.
Not a hundred metres from there, we drop down into a valley where we walk through a towering cathedral of old-growth pine and spruce. Here the shadows run long and even on the hottest days there is moisture and a pleasing scent in the air. Down here the feeling is very different; here I feel small and insignificant. I am humbled by the size of these old trees and by the feeling of calm that comes over me. Of the two feelings -- exaltation or humility -- I am not sure which I prefer the most. The danger in being exalted is that one can be led to believe that he deserves it and with that can come pride and arrogance. Our ego can cause us to feel that we must be a little bit better or ahead of everyone.
This leads me to the story of Archy the educated cockroach. It seems that Archy was crawling through a large cake of cheese. He got to wondering what a cheese would think if a cheese could think. He concluded that it would think that it was just about the most important thing in the world, just as everything that can think does think. That's from Don Marquis book, Archy and Mehitabel. Now I'd like to give you one that my father used to use (he was full of these little gems): "Son, the danger in thinking that you're the whole cheese is that, as you get older, you will be forced to deal with the possibility that more than likely you are just the 'hole'."
The beauty of living and visiting the things of Creation, like our pets, working in our garden or following a trail to old-growth trees is that humility and exaltation are always close by. When we compare ourselves to others we come away either discouraged or we take credit for our successes and become prideful and arrogant.
I have worked outside all of my life--in the bush or in the corrals with cows and horses. I can confirm that God's creations dole out exaltation and humility in equal portions. Having said that, I think the next time we walk out to Lookout Point, I will visit the valley with the old-growth trees first before I climb up the hill and wait to be exalted.
Richard
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