Humility is the Key to Promotion

Humility is the starting point to everything great in life. This is something which I am still mulling over after having heard it in a sermon by my Senior Pastor, Kong Hee, just yesterday.

What is humility? Humility is having a correct and accurate perspective of ourselves; recognising our strengths and acknowledging our weaknesses. Alas, humility is not taught but caught. It has to be modelled by seeing it in the lifestyle of another and reflecting on how we ourselves can embrace it intentionally, if not already done so.

The lack of humility could rear its ugly butt every now and then.

In a news article by Yahoo! on 14 June 2013, "Singaporean director Jack Neo agreed that there is a lack of respect for seniors in the entertainment industry. His statement followed after MediaCorp veterans Chen Hanwei and Zoe Tay had openly reprimanded the young artistes for their lack of manners recently.

In an interview with the Singaporean media, the "Ah Boys To Men" filmmaker described the young directors in Singapore as "cocky" as there were some rude directors who criticised him for his directing style, calling it "old-fashioned"."

To me, the golden rule of humility would be not to think too highly of oneself and not to think too lowly of oneself. Don't let your success gets to your head and don't let your failure or shortfall keep you down. Know thyself and be considerate towards others who may be either more accomplished or less accomplished than you.

Better still, be like my superhero, Jesus Christ, who esteemed others as better than Himself.

This brings me to Fillmore 's discourse with Swordfish in Sherman's Lagoon by Jim Toomey:-

Swordfish(S): What am I going to stab today?
Fillmore(F): Why must you always stab things?
S: I live to stab things. I'm a swordfish.
F: Isn't there something else you can do with that nose of yours?
S: Something more fun than stabbing things? Like what?
F: I bet you can operate a computer with that nose.
F: Here. Try sending Sherman an e-mail.
S: I've never sent an e-mail before.
F: It's easy. Give it a try.
F: Good. What's it say?
S: "I want to stab you."
F: It's a start.

Here then are some impetus to make a change and steer clear of pride from the book of Proverbs:

"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18; NKJV)

"A man's pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit retain honor." (Proverbs 29:23; NKJV)

To get into the swim of things, we need to stay humble and maintain good relationships with all of our fellow creatures in this sea of our lives. We are not likely to get promoted when we stab people or step on their toes everyday.


Footnote on Fillmore the sea turtle
[Source:http://shermanslagoon.com/]
Sherman’s pensive sidekick provides the anchor of sensibility for an otherwise eccentric cast. Not that Fillmore is a normal, well adjusted sea turtle; far from it. He’s bookish and slightly pompous, however he’s sensitive and principled, and right most of the time.