By Fr. Adolf Washington –
If you see a turtle on a fence, be sure it couldn’t get there without somebody’s help.
If you have reached a vantage position in life, received accolades for any achievement, or have touched the pinnacle of success, remember, it would never have happened without the help of others. It requires great humility to acknowledge the prayers, guidance or helping hands of people in everything we achieve in life.
Your level of humility can be measured by the number of people you thank and praise in your journey to success and achievements. It can be expressed in word, deed or in your personal prayers.
A billionaire listening to an informal discussion by a group of guests at a wedding reception about the power of ‘prayer’ got annoyed and intervened “Guys, don’t you have anything else to talk about? I think you need prayers, but I don’t need them. I’m doing too good in business and have made a name for myself among the elite and as much money I have for a lifetime and more”. An elderly man in the group gently told him “Sir, you have enough for a lifetime and more. So just pray for one last thing. Pray for the gift of ‘humility’ and you will be remembered for eternity”.
No matter what we achieve in life, there will always be people we need to acknowledge whether in small or big ways; parents, friends or colleagues or just about the stranger you met on your road to success. They are the reason for your crown.
When Wilhelmina Queen of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (1890 to 1948) who reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch, was being crowned as Queen, she was just a little child. Excited by the adulation and cheering of the multitude, she looked to her mother saying “Mum, do all these people belong to me?” Her Mother told her “My child, they do not belong to you. You belong to them. You must serve them.”
Acclaimed novelist Alex Haley who authored ‘Roots’ which was later televised, did a strange thing. He always had in his office, a picture of a turtle sitting on a fence. He would tell people who met him that whenever he gloated with pride over achievements, he would look at the picture and say, ‘hey turtle’ (that’s me), you couldn’t get there if someone didn’t help you.
Evangelist D L Moody once wrote that Moses spent forty years of his life in the desert thinking he was ‘nobody’ (in humility) but God used the last forty years of his life to reveal what He could do with somebody who thought he was ‘nobody’. Saint James in his letter writes “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up”(James 4:10) The book of Proverbs reminds us “Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in spirit gain honor”(Proverbs 29:23).
Picture a turtle on a fence, it will teach you humility.