I must decrease so that he may increase
In an episode of The Wonder Years (I believe Season 2), Kevin starts 8th grade and finds out the new Math teacher means business. Kevin gets D’s on quizzes for the first time, but is too prideful to seek help. But when he fails the first big test, he admits that he is completely lost. Then the teacher says, “Good. Now you are ready to start.”
Too often we think we are experts in so many things. But it is not until we accept we know nothing that we can actually come to know something. How can you learn if you already think you know it?
The more I have learned, the more I have found there is that I do not know. There is so much out there to learn and I know that on my own power I will never know enough to save my life. So I know there is a need for medical doctors, teachers, plumbers, car mechanics, and so on. But there is also a need, if not a greater one, for spiritual doctors and theologians.
If a glass is half-full with oil, how can you put water in it and expect to drink that water and obtain what your body needs without becoming sick? First, the oil must be washed out so that greater amounts of purer water can be placed in the glass and your body can be nourished. In the same way, how can Christ fill you and nourish you if you keep filling yourself with that which is contrary to him? If I am full of self-pride or any of the other vices, how can I find room for the virtues of Christ? As John the Baptist said, “He must increase; I must decrease” (Jn 3:30).
Too often we think we are experts in so many things. But it is not until we accept we know nothing that we can actually come to know something. How can you learn if you already think you know it?
The more I have learned, the more I have found there is that I do not know. There is so much out there to learn and I know that on my own power I will never know enough to save my life. So I know there is a need for medical doctors, teachers, plumbers, car mechanics, and so on. But there is also a need, if not a greater one, for spiritual doctors and theologians.
If a glass is half-full with oil, how can you put water in it and expect to drink that water and obtain what your body needs without becoming sick? First, the oil must be washed out so that greater amounts of purer water can be placed in the glass and your body can be nourished. In the same way, how can Christ fill you and nourish you if you keep filling yourself with that which is contrary to him? If I am full of self-pride or any of the other vices, how can I find room for the virtues of Christ? As John the Baptist said, “He must increase; I must decrease” (Jn 3:30).
posted by Scott the Seminarian at 12:25 PM
<< Home