Poosey Digest: The virtue of humble

Greetings from Poosey.

I’d never imagined that Senator John Glenn would put me in the mood for Christmas. Our most famous astronaut who was the first man to orbit the Earth passed from it last week, and many of us remember holding our breath in February of 1962 when his radio transmission went out upon reentering the atmosphere while doing something that we never thought possible. Upon landing, one of his comments was, “Well, I just sort of rode along. The folks at NASA did the work.”

Humility. Excellence combined gracefully with humility. Where, oh where, has it gone? Political wags speculate that one of the reasons John Glenn’s run for the office of president was unsuccessful was the fact that he genuinely disliked phoning folks to ask for campaign money. Said one of his aides, “He didn’t want to be beholding to anyone and asking for political contributions wasn’t in his nature. He was a modest guy.” Trevor Brown, head of the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at Ohio State said he was “humble, funny and generous.” Then to top off an astronomical career, at age 77, he spent nine days in space again to help study the effects of aging.

We think back now on those early heroic days of the space program and remember the great boost this unassuming man gave our nation, perhaps forgetting the dangers he faced. His automatic control system failed at the end of the first orbit, and his heat shield came loose upon reentry with the danger that he would burn up along with his capsule. His response? “It made for a very spectacular reentry from where I was sitting.” Previously, he flew 59 combat missions during World War II and 63 missions in Korea. After returning from space Glenn became the first senator from Ohio to be elected four times. When asked about his lifetime of successes he modestly remarked, “I’ve been very fortunate.” Humility. Modesty. Strength.

When Lincoln was running against Stephen Douglas he told a friend, “Everybody expects Douglas to be president and always has. Nobody’s ever expected anything from me, so I guess I’ve got to run in principle.” He later described himself as “not a man of great learning, or a very extraordinary one in any respect,” and when he won the nomination he described himself as “the humblest of all whose names were before the convention.” Even after the senate debates made his name known he wrote, “I do not think myself fit for the presidency.”

I’m of the notion that Lincoln and Glenn would have gotten along quite well. But I’m not sure how well they’d mix with the current crop of political leaders. Electing leaders who lack humility is one thing, but when as a nation we no longer appreciate modesty, when we no longer look upon it as a strength and asset …well, we’re in trouble. The Greeks insisted that a man’s character is his fate. I wonder if the same holds true for a nation.

In a few days we’ll be celebrating the birth of boy who personifies humility, but it seems many of his followers have been highjacked by the opposite philosophy, a far cry from a baby who came as a servant. Perhaps they can fit this all together in their reasoning and, since many of them are my good friends, I’d honestly like to know how they reconcile the two. Maybe I’m missing something. “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant,” still seems to be pretty good advice that both Lincoln and Glenn would have endorsed. Do our current leaders even give a passing nod to the idea of being a servant of the people? 2 Chronicles puts it more plainly: “If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves…” There are hundreds of words that we can use to describe the politics of the past year, but “humble” sadly appears nowhere on the list.

We will come together this week as families, as congregations, as groups of friends. Some of these occasions will center on faith and some on fun. That’s what Christmas has become. But I hope that if nothing else this Christmas we can think a moment about the virtue of simply being humble, and if you put no stock in the Bethlehem story of humility, then listen to the gospel of John Glenn when he said, “If there is one thing I’ve learned in my years on this planet, it’s that the happiest and most fulfilled people I’ve known are those who devoted themselves to something bigger and more profound than merely their own self-interest.”

You ever ’round Poosey, stop by. We may not answer the door but you’ll enjoy the trip.