Straight Paths- Stay Humble and Kind

Stay Humble and Kind

Loren Hardin

The Ashland Beacon

             Tom was sixty-eight years old when he enrolled in hospice services with Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS). He was bedbound and required total care. Tom was a big man, the thickness of his hands and fingers testified of a man accustomed to hard manual labor. His contagious grin, twinkle in his eye and stealthy wit revealed an intelligent man with a sense of humor.   

             According to Tom’s wife, Faye, Tom was a modern-day renaissance man. Faye, recounted, “He always said he wanted to try everything.” Tom and Faye moved twenty-five times during their fifty-year marriage. Tom and been a minister and pastor while, at the same time, working as a master mechanic and owning and operating tractor trailer rigs. Tom was a motorcycle enthusiast, a competitive tennis player, and Faye claimed, “He could have been a professional bowler.” Faye recalled, “We’ve lived in the best of houses and worn the best of clothes, but we worked hard. While we were in Wisconsin, I worked three jobs at the same time. I was a home health aide, sold real estate and was the church secretary.” 

             Tom and Faye’s lives are different now. Their financial reserves are depleted, and they barely make ends meet. They can’t afford to have their van repaired and their home is in disrepair.  Faye shared, “For a few years our living room ceiling leaked during heavy rains, but we just placed buckets all around the room and imagined we were being serenaded by the rain hitting the buckets. We still have a sense of humor. And we are more thankful now than ever. We are happier here than anywhere.” 

             Being amazed by Tom’s pleasant demeanor and thankful heart, I asked Tom what helped him cope. Tom replied, “Staying humble. Either God will humble you or you can humble yourself (James 4:10).  But if you humble yourself there is always a reward. To be humble, we have to see who we are and who God is. I used to think I was doing things for God, but now I realize that I did them for myself. I got ahead of God. I thought I was ten feet tall and bullet proof and that I could move mountains. But God showed me that I’m only about a half inch tall and that I can only flick rocks. I used to lead people, but God told me I would be led by others. I’d always done the talking but now I’m listening.”  

             Pastor and author, C.J. Mahaney defines humility as “Serving others for the glory of God” and suggests that “Humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness…Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross…it’s at the foot of the cross that we shrink down to our true size…How can anyone be arrogant when he stands beside the cross…“ (Humility: True Greatness, 2005)?  

             James, the half-brother of Jesus, wrote, “Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up,” (James 4:10); and “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble,” (James 4:6);. The Apostle Paul exhorts, “Don’t think of yourselves more highly than you ought to think but think soberly as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith,” (Romans 12:1-8); “For who makes you to differ from one another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it,” (I Corinthians 4:7). Finally, in the words of the renowned Country Music artist, Tim McGraw, “Always stay humble and kind”. 

             “Hold the door say please and thank you, don’t steal, don’t cheat, and don’t lie…Don’t expect a free ride from no one, don’t hold a grudge or a chip and here’s why, bitterness keeps you from flying, always stay humble and kind… Don’t take for granted the love this life gives you…don’t forget, turn back around, help the next one in line, always stay humble and kind,” (YouTube, “Always Stay Humble and Kind”, by Tim McGraw). 

              Loren Hardin was a social worker with SOMC-Hospice for twenty-nine years and is presently an active volunteer. He can be reached at 740.357.6091 or at lorenhardin53@gmail.com. You can order Loren's book, "Straight Paths: Insights for living from those who have finished the course", at Amazon.