I'm a Worm!

 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:10)

          “I’m a Worm!”

          “I’m a piece of filth!”

          These are the sorts of statements we tend to associate with humbleness. I’m nobody, useless, helpless, worthless… In comparison with God, all of those are true. But have you stopped to consider how important worms are to the environment? They dig burrows, which allow air and water into the soil and to the roots of plants. They eat their body weight in waste every day, and their castings (excrement, poop) is among the best fertilizer available. And they provide food for other critters.  The humble worm is more valuable than we tend to give it credit for.

          C.S. Lewis described being humble not as thinking less of ourselves, but of thinking of ourselves less. That’s hard to do when you’re trying to figure out how to take care of yourself better unless you think of yourself as you would think of anyone else you want to take better care of. Who you are taking better care of isn’t the key. Taking better care is.

          There is also the idea taught by flight attendants and emergency responder trainers.  You put on your air mask before you help your kids with theirs.  You don’t rush into a gun battle to save someone’s life. You can’t take care of someone else well if you don’t take care of yourself first. Somehow, I don’t think worms spend a lot of time worrying about their reputations. They’re too busy doing the important things that they do. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to be a worm.