A
Moment Aside --- 5 March 2021
I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the
world and I said groaning, "What can get through from such snares?"
Then I heard a voice saying to me, "Humility. – Anthony
of Egypt
St.
Anthony the Great or St. Anthony of Egypt (251-356 AD reputedly) was one of the
first Christians to go into the desert to live a solitary life of poverty and
prayer. He heard the call of the Gospel to do this and he drew others to live
that sort of life. He also ministered to Christians imprisoned for their faith
at the time. He is called “the Father of Monks.” (The title ‘Abba’ seen above
means ‘father’ or even ‘abbot.’)
The quote
seen above has to do with Anthony's own internal conflict over the “snares” he
saw in life around him. Even the life of a desert monk has snares and
temptations. He prayed and found God’s answer in a simple virtue – humility.
Without that, the Gospel of Christ can go unheard and unheeded. He is said to
have endured any number of temptations, some of which we’d say were impossible,
like finding a tray of gold coins out in the desert. Humility served as his
shield.
For us
today, the lesson of humility is a powerful one. We are still faced with
numerous “snares” and temptations, many of which are not obvious. The most
prevalent and constant one is to make ourselves the center of our own universe
and actually to make ourselves our own god. As the British author, C.S. Lewis
wrote “Humility is not thinking less of yourself,
it’s thinking of yourself less.” A hard remedy for any of us and a true
one. Realizing that we are NOT God may be the only way to get through our share
of “snares.”
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