The term “humility” comes from the Latin word humilitas, a noun related to the adjective humilis, which may be translated as “humble” but also as “grounded” or “from the earth” since it derives from humus (earth).
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks states that in Judaism, humility is an appreciation of oneself, one’s talents, skills, and virtues. It is not meekness or self-deprecating thought but the effacing oneself to something higher. Humility is not to think lowly of oneself but to appreciate the self one has received. In recognition of the mysteries and complexities of life, one becomes humbled by the awesomeness of what one is and what one can achieve.
Humility is both something and, at the same time, nothing. It is [hidden] cloaked in purple. A curious light in the universe. A Column of Fire and Clouds. Grounded and on Jacobs ladder. It is hard to recognize; it is so rare.
