Postcards from the Funny Farm

The psychology of humility is very very interesting to me. C.S. Lewis wrote about it at length in his Screwtape Letters (1942). It is a fictional set of letters between a senior uncle and junior nephew demon. The uncle teaches the demon how to be better at screwing up peoples’ lives. One thing he coaches him to attack on is the area of humility and it is too funny how the advice rings true to an often-self-important fellow like me.

On prayers, Chapter 3:

“It is, no doubt, impossible to prevent his praying for his mother, but we have means of rendering the prayers innocuous. Make sure they are always very ’spiritual’, that he is always concerned with the state of her soul and never with her rheumatism.”

The guy praying for his mother thinks he is praying for her, but he is really being selfish. This can translate into non-spiritual psychology when we think we are being humble but really just becoming self-martyrs. Lewis’ book is short but full of wise insight into humility, spiritual and psychological. I recommend reading it.

People everywhere these days are consumed with themselves. I am no exception. We are always worried about how we will feel next. I have found that when we are truly humble, we complain less. We also are liked more by others. Just like in the quote above, if we think more about meeting other peoples’ needs instead of finger pointing, blaming, and dwelling on how they have wronged us, we will be happier people and better at what we do. At the very least you are guaranteed an open mind. Try thinking of others tomorrow before yourself. Heck, start today. Imagine yourself in discount home theater seating and the show is you starring in the Oscar winning show called “Your Life.”

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