When the Homily is about Immunology

Humility, Love, Forgiveness, and Moulin Rouge

Yes...Moulin Rouge. Stick with me folks.

I really have been seeing examples of how humility is intimately linked to love and forgiveness. Love and forgiveness are (in their purest forms) both selfless - centered not on the self, but rather on the OTHER. A scene in the aforementioned movie (which I liked, despite many a friend’s and acquaintance’s grimace at such a proclamation) really brought this home to me.

The penniless writer Christian has fallen in love with the courtesan Satine, who he eventually convinces to invest in love instead of material comfort and security. However, she wavers throughout and eventually under pressure from a rich and powerful Duke she uses her acting skills to rebuff Christian and tell him that she does not love him and was only using him (All of this was secretly being done to save his life as the Duke had threatened to kill the writer!). Broken hearted, Christian retreats into despair which turns to anger.

In the climax, he interrupts the stage production of a musical, which really mirrors the entanglements of Christian and Satine’s relationship, and angrily “pays his whore.” He storms off the stage spitting at Satine: “I owe you nothing!” Indeed, this is the anger of betrayal, of unrequited love, of having had done to you a tremendous wrong. We can all relate.

But as Christian is about to leave, Satine sings out there “secret” love song – changing the words at one point to implore Christian to “…forgive everything?” He stops his angry retreat, and virtually without hesitating, moves to her while weaving his voice into the song. You can see and feel the relief in Satine as she hears him begin to sing. A simplistic scene…trite…but I’m sorry, it chokes me up everytime. Anger melts away to love and forgiveness, despite the very profound and public wrong committed against Christian. Is this not humility in action?

Humility, I think, is born of love for and forgiveness of others. “A healthy self-disinterest” simply isn’t enough, it must move on to a healthy INTEREST in others. As Basil well notes, the "end of humility as no doubt expressed by the Saints (the wholly humble) is to eventually feel no need to forgive anything, but for the rest of us who still take offense of things we can still practice humility through forgiveness.

I can hear people rumbling now…but I don’t feel like forgiving…how can I forgive if I still feel offended, hurt, and wronged!? It’s not real forgiveness if I don’t feel it!

OH KNOCK IT OFF YOU PANSY! What the hell do feelings have to do with it? As Nike says: Just do it! If you don’t feel like you’ve forgiven the person…so what? ACT LIKE YOU HAVE…LIVE LIKE YOU HAVE…TRUST LIKE YOU HAVE. Ignore your feelings about the matter…I mean, really now, are we slaves to our passions? Has Christ not set us free from them? Can we not ignore what they cry out for and simply do otherwise? Though the mind rages for revenge and justice…we can calmly and coolly react in love and forgiveness.

In my marriage and in fatherhood, opportunities for practicing humility abound. How hard it can be sometimes…I fail time and time again, giving myself over to my passions –cursing Satine and her song and walking right on out of the Moulin Rouge and feeling pretty darned self-righteous about it too (after all, it was a glorified whorehouse!) My drive home from work each day sometimes involves prayers and reflection that prepare me for arriving at home girded with love and a willingness to forgive. Born of this holy union of virtues is their precious daughter: humility.

I am a work still in progress, no doubt further exercises and tests await me the moment I hit “Publish” and walk away.