Nicole’s e-Pistle

September 25, 2024

Hello, dear friends!

We had a great speaker yesterday at Rotary Club. Jon Jaudon, the Dalton State athletic director, gave a talk on the leadership model they utilize in their programs with both staff and student athletes. It was a great talk, but there was one particular phrase that has embedded itself in my brain. In fact, I’m not sure I heard much else after Jon said it. I’m not even exactly sure the context in which it came up. He said that a quote from C.S. Lewis that has always stuck with him was that “Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.”

One more time… “Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.”

***Now, the historian in me just simply couldn’t take it at his word that this was a C.S. Lewis quote. It wasn’t, as a matter of fact, as you’ll see by clicking on the article below.***

https://aaronarmstrong.co/what-cs-lewis-wrote-is-better-than-what-he-didnt/

It turns out it was Rick Warren who wrote the quote in his book A Purpose Filled Life. Supposedly, according to the article above, C.S. Lewis wrote something similar in Mere Christianity. I have been trying to find the passage in my own copy of the book, but the page numbers do not line up. Here are C.S. Lewis’ (alleged) words on humility:

“Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call ‘humble’ nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all. [Emphasis mine.]

If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.”

That sounds a lot more like Lewis. Either way, it humbles me to read both these perspectives on humility. Therefore, naturally, I will now spend the next few days thinking quite a lot about myself, wondering if I think about myself too often, chagrined that I have just done it again!

Oh well, I shall strive to acquire humility by realizing that I am proud, as Lewis suggests. Then, I shall turn my thoughts to other things – to how much I care for each of you and to how much I feel loved and blessed by God. I suppose gratitude is another great place to begin.

With a grateful (if not so humble) heart, my friends,