Grounded

I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ~ Ephesians 4:1-2

The crows were agitated, so, of course, I looked. Typically, a raucous cloud of crows gathers to mob some bird that they want to move out of the area. So I expected to see them diving at a tree where I would look for the undesirable intruder. But they continued to swarm around in the sky. So I scanned the flock to find the one that was different. The only bird that stood out, was one without a tail, but being all black, I thought it was one of the mobbers not the mobbee. Turns out, that a look through the binoculars revealed a bulky bird with a huge bill, this was a raven, mystery solved. As I watched, I saw that the tailless raven was the object of their scorn and as it drifted away, so did the mob.

A Common Raven without its characteristic wedge-shaped tail is quite a sight. This one appeared to be half the normal size due to that. Among humans, being denied the ability to display your uniqueness might be somewhat humbling, but this raven seemed undaunted, as bold and brash as any of their kin. If anyone was humbled, it was me for my lack of keener identification skills.

We often fail to distinguish humiliation from humility. The former only happens when we allow ourselves to be shamed, while the latter is a virtue we should seek. To be humble means literally to be grounded, since the root of the word is shared with humus. Who knows where the line between self-confidence and self-centered is in our more-than-human kin (assuming that such a thing is even possible for them) but we are well served to examine where it is in each of us, and then to be careful not to cross it. If we take our lead from the crow gang, identifying the outsider in order to keep them out, we will surely cross over the line that humility would dictate. Identifying an inferior requires claiming superiority. Thus, one certain path to better, more harmonious, and peaceful relationships begins internally with a healthy embrace of humility.

Prayer: Breath of Life, you animated us from the dust to which we will return. Teach us the mystery of that marvelous gift so we might know how to be fully the people you have made us to be. Amen.