Humility: Accepting Reality

A man trying to organize a men's choir said I had a fine voice. Given a choice, he asked, wouldn't someone prefer a beautiful voice to a powerful mind or athletic body?

I agreed, but was a bit embarrassed: since I've got two out of the three. My wife's opined that if bad hips hadn't kept me from excelling at sports: I'd be insufferable. She's probably right.

Self-Esteem Run Amok


Since pride is a sin, is it wrong to be proud of my voice?

Yes — and no. It depends on what sort of "pride" is involved.

When "pride" is self-esteem run amok, it's one of the seven capital sins: along with avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1866)

Ancient Greeks called it hubris. It's a bad idea in stories, from "Oedipus Rex," to Milton's "Paradise Lost" and Paul Ryder's "Cosmic Monsters."

Most of us don't get the sort of reality checks featured in Greek tragedies and epic poems, but hubris is a bad idea in real life, too.
"...A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you...."
("Mere Christianity," C. S. Lewis)
More at A Catholic Citizen in America.

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