I’ve been thinking a lot about humility lately – watching the interactions of others, and wondering how I honor it today?

Often we’re surrounded by examples of arrogance – impatience forcing us into a pattern of ‘must have right now.’ We grumble, we honk, we cast a furrowed brow – and, in doing so we compromise the space for compassion to grow.

We forget the person standing before us – that they are human, too.

My darlings, did you know the word humility derives from the Latin “humus” meaning – from the earth? It demonstrates a sense of groundedness, which serves as the very foundation upon which we ‘stand.’

“You carry Mother Earth within you,” writes Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. “She is not outside of you. Mother Earth is not just your environment. In that insight of inter-being, it is possible to have real communication with the Earth, which is the highest form of prayer. In that kind of relationship you have enough love, strength and awakening in order to change your life.”

My darlings, this is the basis of our humanity – and, it is the very source of our humility.

To have humility is to continuously ‘touch’ the earth – to be at one with our interconnectedness. To offer the spirit of deference for another human life. It is the ultimate manifestation of our true spirit, loving-kindness deeply rooted in the foundation of compassion.

It seeks, what arrogance hopes to steal.

“When we touch the Earth,” he shares, “we become small, with the humility and simplicity of a young child. When we touch the Earth we become great, like an ancient tree sending her roots deep into the earth, drinking from the source of all waters. When we touch the Earth, we breathe in all the strength and stability of the Earth, and breathe out our suffering- our feelings of anger, hatred, fear, inadequacy and grief.

The practice of Touching the Earth is to return to the Earth, to our roots, to our ancestors, and to recognize that we are not alone but connected to a whole stream of spiritual and blood ancestors. We are their continuation and with them, will continue into the future generations. We touch the earth to let go of the idea that we are separate and to remind us that we are the Earth and part of Life.”

And humility, my dearest darlings – is the path which takes us there.