Humbleness

Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, `God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, `God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."

Luke 18:9-14

The Pharisee and the Publican

MILLAIS, Sir John Everett

From illustrations to ‘The Parables of Our Lord,’ engraved by the Dalziel Brothers

1864

wood engraving on paper

Tate Britain

London

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/millais-the-pharisee-and-the-publican-a00793

When Millais’s twenty Parables appeared in 1864, they were considered a tour de force, praised in the press and published in a range of formats. Contemporaries admired their poetic, thoughtful earnestness and recognized how distinct they were from most religious art. Millais made preparatory studies for the prints that he transferred to wood blocks covered with a thin layer of "Chinese" white. Skilled engravers employed burins and gravers to carve the images, and Millais was given the proofs to adjust before the final printing.

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/382281

True humility does not know that it is humble.

If it did, it would be proud from the

contemplation of so fine a virtue.

~ Martin Luther

It’s not addition that makes one holy but subtraction:

stripping the illusions, letting go of pretense,

exposing the false self,

breaking open the heart and the understanding,

not taking my private self too seriously.

~ Richard Rohr