Witness to Humility in the Extreme

Underlying Agenda, Part I:  Believe Me, I’m a Witness to Humility in the Extreme

          Let this be an addendum to the stated purpose of the blog. Essentially I’m endorsing an improbable, unpopular action: living in Christian humility in all interactions. Furthermore, I’m assuming, under the current state of affairs (post 9/11 and due to the continuing US wars, not to mention xenophobia exacerbated by high unemployment), that one of the most extreme stretches for most Americans would be behaving humbly towards Muslims.

          I am in the ideal position to attest to the challenge of humility towards Muslims; after all, my well-intended homemade cookies were rejected at the women’s university in Riyadh because my hands are considered dirty. “Who needs ‘em? I’ll save on cookie dough” might be a natural, perhaps benign, response. For me, the ongoing effort to live in humility with Muslims is both very real and provides an extreme example of the challenge of humility. How does one remain open-hearted in the wake of cultural denunciation while not internalizing it? I pray for the courage to be loving. The upshot?: I don’t believe that I have dirty hands, yet I’m willing to allow Muslims to obligate me with their hospitality, despite the fact that my reciprocity is sometimes rejected.

Who am I kidding? Over the years I’ve retreated somewhat from these painful encounters. Still, I have plenty of cultural conundrums to recount for the sake of pushing humility to its limits.