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The Offices of Mission & Ministry and Student Affairs are offering discernment houses next academic year, one for men and one for women.

The program is open to all returning students who want to grow spiritually with their peers who have similar aspirations. The program provides students a unique residential experience that nurtures their faith and is conducive to community life with opportunities for service, prayer, and accompaniment.

Interested students may or may not be considering religious life or priesthood, but must be open to living a shared communal life, have a desire to go deeper in their spirituality, and want to discern the movement of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Communal life will include common meals, common prayers, shared household responsibilities, and recreational activities. 

The discernment houses will be located in Saint Yon’s in two, four-person apartments — one for men and one for women. Students remain part of the residence life community, subject to the same expectations, policies, and costs.  

Interested students are encouraged to reach out to the Office of Student Affairs at studentaffairs@smumn.edu for an application, which will be due by 4 p.m. on Friday, March 12. Interviews will be conducted the week of March 15.

Please contact Marisa Naryka, Ed.D., assistant vice president for Student Affairs, at studentaffairs@smumn.edu or Brother Stephen Markham, vice president for Mission & Ministry, at smarkham@smumn.edu with any questions.

As researchers of business application and Lasallian educators, we rely on an epistemology of critical and inquisitive scientific process. Humility, as a practical and experiential virtue, can be understood as being true to one’s self and being a person of character, modest in estimating our importance, and a dedication to a greater common good. Much has been written about the phenomenological experience of humility and how it is experienced and perceived through the external benchmarks of observation. We would like to offer another view, in agreement with Brother Antón Marquiegui¹, that recognizes humility as epiphenomenon — a secondary phenomenon which occurs simultaneously but is understood through our own internal eyes of faith.

Third-year DBA student P.K. Yang offers us the following reflection on humility, and her own praxis on the evolution of humility in her life:

My view of humility comes from a cultural, scholarly, professional, and personal lens. As I balance between these lenses, I am challenged and pulled in many directions at the same time. Obtaining a balance between these four forces and being able to know and understand humility is key for me to be effective in work and life. From a cultural perspective, living the role of a Hmong woman with the responsibilities associated of family, kids, and future generations comes with the realization that being humble plays an important role in the Hmong society. For example, sometimes I need to think carefully on what I say or do as the Hmong community can view me positively or negatively from my actions. Therefore, I choose to listen and voice my opinions after careful consideration. Why? It is the willingness to understand the perspectives of others that is essential to my role within the community. As a scholar, my willingness to listen and learn from the many researchers before me along with future scholars plays an important role, because I personally want to continue to learn and grow.

The DBA program and my cohort has enabled me grow personally because I’ve met many individuals who gave testimony to their life-stories and perspectives. I learned to slow down and be more willing and open-minded to opposing points of view. Professionally, thinking about the leadership and diverse perspectives in my organization, the acceptance and honoring of multiple perspectives is important in how we make decisions. Personally, I’ve gained this awareness from my awesome parents. My parents have always taught me to think carefully and be willing to view society and the world in multiple perspectives. Yet we must be willing to understand and balance who we are and what we believe in. Regardless of the chaos we may encounter, we must strive to pursue humility not as an “active goal” but rather as a balance of understanding.

For faculty, humility can be witnessed in the practice of the craft of teaching. From some outside perspectives, the role of educator may pale in comparison to the prestige of other disciplines. It may not bring you excessive material wealth, high social rank, or fame. However, as Brother Marquiegui suggests, in the internal valuation of a faculty member, the art of teaching and scholarship, as well as contributing to the common good, is a dignified and noble pursuit.

1. Marquiegui, A. (2018). Contribution of John Baptist De La Salle (1651-1719): To the esteem for the teaching profession. MEL Bulletin N.52, Rome, Italy: Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools.

2020 forced many of us to confront and acknowledge our limitations. Activities that were once taken for granted, such as meeting with family or attending sporting events, were extricated from our grasps. Some would even argue that our freedoms and liberties were trampled upon. Fortunately, in order to navigate our new normal, some sought refuge in the virtue of humility. Humility is often described from two distinct perspectives. From one lens, it is the inherent desire to serve others. The ability to lend our talents and resources in order to ameliorate the lives of others. Alternatively, some scholars also assert that humility requires us to recognize a higher being. Thus, we must give honor and thanks to an all-sapient entity.

The aforementioned contours of humility provide an excellent starting point in order to appreciate the virtue. However, the authors would like to offer a more panoptic understanding of humility. In order to so, the virtue of magnanimity must be introduced and defined. Magnanimity is the pursuit of greatness. It is the capacity to inspire and expect splendor from ourselves and those we are in association with. In short, it recognizes and prods us to reach our human potential. Therefore, we must envision true humility as the proper balance of service to others and recognition of a higher being on one end and magnanimity on the other. In the context of true humility, the authors compel the reader to consider what Aristotle referred to as the golden mean. The ancient Greek espoused that the golden mean is the proper combination between two extremes that results in human flourishing. As it pertains to authentic humility, it is the proper blend between meekness and arrogance.

Consider the Scale of Justice. The Egyptian Goddess of justice, Maat, stood for the proper balance between truth and fairness. This same analogy can be said for humility. If the scale is tilted too far to one extreme, the result is self-abasement. We tend to capitulate to poor leadership. We negotiate our humanity in exchange for comfort. We fail to respond to blatant atrocities. We ignore the cries of our neighbors. On the other end of the spectrum, if there is too much magnanimity, the result is supremacy. We entertain the axiom that some groups are inherently better than others. We recognize and acknowledge our vast capabilities and fail to embrace the value of other cultures, resulting in ethnocentricity.

When we humbly consider and embrace the value of others — such as what scholars including Tervalon and Murray-Garcia (1998) call “cultural humility,” the life-long process the National Institutes of Health (NIH) defines as self-reflection, and self-critique — we (1) learn about another’s culture and (2) examine our own beliefs and cultural identity. The healthcare industry moved away from cultural competency to practicing cultural humility as a training tool because physicians recognized the importance of adequately serving culturally, ethnically, and racially diverse populations in the United States. Perhaps, this is an approach to actively consider in academia, especially when preparing business students to flourish in the global market. Progressing from the culturally-accepted Euro-centric educational system to training business students about various markets’ opportunities, savoir-faire, and challenges may position business students better in their quest to maximizing profits on the global market by adequately targeting culturally, ethnically, and racially diverse populations. Perhaps the business schools of today cannot resemble that of yesterday because of the changing competitive landscape? While cultural humility is presented as food for thought today, it demands more than passive self-reflection. Cultural humility ultimately insists on action (Foronda, Baptiste, Reinholdt, and Ousman, 2016).

Meet Humility:

He is kind, soft-spoken, and builds consensus easily. He is open-minded. He can hear what is not said and sees what is not visible.

Humility never hurries. He is calm. He reads. He thinks. He listens. He understands. His silence is powerful. He sees only the good in others.

He is thoughtful and cares deeply about others. He’s a romantic. Humility is best friends with Patience. He married Wisdom. They are growing old together.

His self-deprecating humor is endearing.

He is comfortable in the intellectual weeds. He is not looking for answers, which frustrates his dissertation adviser, but he doesn’t care. His thesis will write itself.

Humility is a flower
which does not grow in
everyone’s garden.

― Aristotle

Yes, you guessed it. In this essay, I will tie humility into gardening. You see, I believe every lesson in life can be learned from gardening. Gardening is the metaphor for life. I also believe that gardening can be a sacred and spiritual act. Over five decades, gardening has been a great teacher for me and a source of joy and inspiration.

Soon, it will be spring and I will be eager to play in the soil. I will be planting seeds, cuttings, corms, tubers, bulbs, etc. Most of these will grow and do really well. Yes, there will be blunders such as planting seeds too closely together, accidentally hoeing seedlings, setbacks due to frost in late May, insect or rodent infestation, or excessive heat. In spite of these, it seems every year enough plants in my gardens do well, and I am able to reap lots of produce for myself and to donate. So much so, that when other people visit my garden, they often comment on how much better mine looks compared to theirs.

I also plant a plot in a community garden. My active engagement in the community garden is to share my knowledge of gardening; encourage others to experience the joy of growing greens, peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, tomatoes, potatoes, and sweet potatoes for themselves — and to grow fresh vegetables to donate to a food shelf.

Neighbors and fellow community gardeners have often told me that my garden was better because the soil was better, and it has become a running family joke. Often, when someone is commenting how wonderful the garden looks these praises are often followed by, “You must have good soil.” or “The soil in my yard is not as good as yours.” If a family member is present, we just look at each other and smile.

Years ago, when I was younger, attributing the success of the garden to the soil did irritate me. To me, it discounted my achievement of producing beautiful flowers, vegetables, etc. It discredited the effort I had spent over the decades learning the nuances about various plants and figuring out how to make the conditions right for specific plants. As a result, instead of, “You have good soil.” I wanted to hear, “You are a good gardener.” Even the comment, “You are a good steward.” would have been fine.

Today, when someone tells me, “You have good soil.” I respond with a simple, “Thank you.” I have even come to appreciate that the person is correct. The soil has to be good to support vigorous growth. However, I quietly take some credit in knowing I amended and built the soil over the years. Yes, there is a lot of amending and building soil if one starts off with sand or clay. When I believe the person is interested in learning how to improve their soil, I would offer to help.

Now, before I get ahead of myself in believing I can build soil and make things grow, I am reminded of a conversation I had with my mother when I was a child. She was the one who introduced me to the miracle of a dormant seed taking in water which triggers the seed to express its greatness as a new plant emerging and going through the cycle of life. She stressed that the seeds and plants were wired to grow and express themselves. That is what they were created to do. All we as gardeners do is provide the right conditions to make the best growth possible. Looking back, it was a display of humility. Today, I fully appreciate that sentiment.

So, even when our gardens have the best crops, we need to remain humble and realize we don’t create life as gardeners. We only provide the best conditions possible for life to thrive and do its thing. We are stewards. We are caretakers of what has already been created.

In life, there are many opportunities where we want to claim credit for something. We may want to boast, show off, or have a superior attitude. I would suspect if we are humble, we would realize that it took a lot of things outside of our control to achieve the things we are most proud of. Our success would not have been possible if we weren’t standing on the shoulders of others. So, instead of being boastful or prideful, we need to pause and give praise to those who made our success possible.

Being humble or having humility is a character trait that comes from deep within. It is about substance, not show. It is about knowing you have achieved, not telling others you have achieved. It is about inner peace and inner strength.

It was Plato who noted that Greek philosopher Socrates once stated, “I know that I know nothing.” It seems that the more this great philosopher knew, the less he felt he knew. So, here is a paradox. Humility from a learning perspective could be to strive to know nothing. This may be an admirable goal. The more you are open to learning, the more you realize there is so much more to learn.

“If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer, ‘He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone.’”
― Epictetus

“Every person that you meet knows something you don’t; learn from them.”
― H. Jackson Brown Jr.

As I set out to write this essay, my mindset was not thinking about humility. I had come off a long day of work and sufficient home/life chaos that left me drained. For all intents and purposes, I was the guest of honor at my own pity party. My mind was filled with thoughts of how difficult my day had been and how hard I had it. Then, I began to search for inspiration for this essay. Humility came to crash my party and my day turned around.

The source of my inspiration was Raymond Tang’s presentation on the lessons of humility we can learn from water (TED, 2017). Listening to Tang and thinking about my personal state at the time illuminated the root of my problem with all I was facing was, surprisingly, me. And, paradoxically, the solution to my problem was also me.

My struggles were rooted in a desire to be in control and on top of the various things in my workday and personal life which were all competing for my attention. Then, my response to my own management of these things was to sulk in the volume them and allow my energy and mood to be depleted. It did not have to go this way; one always has other options.

If I would have embraced humility in this situation, I would have realized that I am only one person, with limits to resources and who cannot control as much as I think I can. The outcome of the first approach compared to the second approach is vast, and it all comes down to how much importance I place on myself. One lesson from the philosophy of water Tang references is its ability to achieve harmony in times of conflict. He suggests, “If we think about water flowing towards a rock, it will just flow around it. It doesn’t get upset, it doesn’t get angry, it doesn’t get agitated … When faced with an obstacle, somehow water finds a solution, without force, without conflict” (5:11 – 5:29).

Embracing humility makes traversing difficult times much easier. There is no need to get distracted by one’s title or power, because the greatest value comes from the collective, not the individual. As Tang observes, “All streams eventually flow to the ocean because it is lower than them” (4:47 – 4:51).

Humility is not only a means to get through difficult times, it is also a force that can propel one into meaningful experiences such as learning. Embracing humility frees one from façade that he or she must have an answer to everything because they hold a certain degree or title. Humility allows one to be ready for and receptive to new learning which can come from anywhere and anyone.

Humility may seem like an undesirable party guest at first, especially when one has worked diligently for his or her achievements. Humility is not so much about giving up achievements, but more about allowing oneself to still be a human being and fully present with others in spite of great achievements. For myself, I’m glad humility knocked on my door and came to show me the way.

Reference

Tang, R. (2017, December). Be humble – and other lessons from the philosophy of water [Video]. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/raymond_tang_be_humble_and_other_lessons_from_the_philosophy_of_water?language=en