Humility

With nearly two weeks of the Japan adventure behind me, I am beginning to accumulate thoughts and observations worthy of sharing on this site. However, as some dear family friends have recently suffered a great loss, I feel compelled to write a little about one particular aspect of Japanese culture: humility. Humility is an important part of Japanese society. The language consists of varying degrees of formality depending on who one is talking to, and varying degrees of emphasis so as to never overstate a point like no other language I have seen. And, of course, there is the ever-present tradition of bowing, a universally recognized show of humility. As I recognized the importance of this idea to the Japanese, I began to think about the general lack of humility that many of us exhibit.
Human beings are incredibly fragile on so many levels. The body is easily damaged, feelings are easily hurt, and emotions are often volatile. We see this frailty on a regular basis when an insensitive comment drives someone to tears, or when a seemingly insignificant accident takes away a life. But despite our many shortcomings and weaknesses we stand with clinched fists raised and proclaim our own greatness. We say humility shows weakness when it really shows strength. Arrogance and pride are signs of a weakness in one's ability to acknowledge something greater than him or her self. Humility, on the other hand, shows more confidence than anything I can imagine. The ability and willingness to humble oneself before others takes great courage, and it goes a long way towards solving problems between individuals and even nations.
While humility is something deeply rooted in Japanese customs, it is largely lacking in my American culture. That is what makes the humility of my friends, as they suffered an unimaginable tragedy, all the more impressive to me. In light of their example, I am making a commitment to be more humble, to more readily swallow my pride in the face of dispute and despair, and to embrace rather than ignore our human frailties. To those friends: While I will hurt with you in this time of loss, I will also thank you for helping me appreciate the importance of humility. God bless.