I don't have the answers yet, but I have learned enough to be dangerous, and ask better questions..

A friend told me that he feels a little stuck right now, and admitted that he is hesitant to dream big, and fears success a little bit. I think a great many people, myself included, fall into that space every once in a while. However, he is also a devout Christian and buying into the humility thing - you know, where you can't dream big for fear of hubris, and you shouldn't want much, other than what you need for basic survival because you don't want to be too greedy, etc.

I thought about this for a moment, and then said, "There is no way you can live this way, and hold onto your beliefs as a Christian".

He was shocked. What on earth did I mean?

It's a weird logic, this Christian idea of piety and humbleness. First, according to Christian thought, there is a God in the Universe, and He is at the helm, running the Big Show. Some believe that He has a plan for everyone. Some believe that our job is to do God's will, though most have a hard time identifying where one would go exactly to find out what that will is. Some claim to be able to hear that inner voice. Now, in the case of Dubya, I believe the inner voice he is listening to is Fear. But that's another blog. Most Christians believe that God is in charge, and is the Supreme being best able to direct their course.

So, why humility? The way this manifests is that the person believes that something is good enough for them, or is content with a certain amount of prosperity because subconsciously they think this is all they deserve. They don't dare to hope for anything more.

Hmmm. So that says that no matter what might be in store for me, I'll accept this much because that's all I deserve. God is unbounded and limitless, but I think I'll go ahead and limit what comes to me.

As though I know best.

How is this consistent with a God that has a plan for everyone, and whose Will is to be followed? Apparently you follow as long as you can, but then limit yourself because you know better than God.

(You can clearly see these beliefs cannot co-exist logically. Either God knows what He's doing, or He doesn't. The humility gig indicates that the person has little faith in what God is up to, and prefers to set their bar low, just in case He fails to come through.)

That is the ultimate hubris, then, because you limit the limitless. You bound the unbounded. Where is the humility in that?

Real humility means following God wherever your path takes you, and for the ones who really cleave to it, the destinations can be strange indeed. The oddball outcast mystic is celebrated 500 years later for his profound poetry (Rumi). The patent clerk bends light and authors the end of time (Einstein). The eccentric psychiatrist connects the spiritual to the psyche (Jung). The peanut farmer goes to the White House, and then builds houses for the homeless (Carter). REAL humility means being unafraid to follow the call, even if you have no idea where you are going. It doesn't mean to limit what God tries to bestow on you.

Now, I've written all that, and this part will make you scream:

I am not a Christian.

I am just following the prevailing logic and noting how the two beliefs (that God is limitless and unbounded, and that I can somehow limit Him) are inconsistent and logically incoherent.

My friend didn't appreciate my logic, nor did he wish to release his fear of....more.

Now what to do?