I think there’s something to learn from the Shakers. The Shakers were a religious sect back in the 19th Century known for producing chairs that it’s said will last a thousand years. Yet none of the craftspeople took credit for their work. They believed that the act itself was its own reward, and invested themselves fully in their craft as a form of prayer. Of course, traditions in the East also believed that “a warrior learns to meditate in every act,’ as Socrates says to his pupil, Dan Millman, in the movie, Peaceful Warrior.
The Shakers espoused the value of humility, which doesn’t have many endorsements today, probably because you can’t endorse and be humble at the same time. I have an Uncle, 98, confined to a nursing home and now allowed visitors, who’s survived Covid-19, a broken femur, surgery, a hospital stay. Yet he’s usually cheerful, quick to smile and to laugh. He exhibits a guilelessness, a purity and an innocence which I rarely see in the world.
What my uncle and the Shakers have is that they don’t think they’re humble. They don’t try to be humble. The thought of humility doesn’t occur to them. They understand that the act is its own fulfillment, and that to take credit for something – a good thought, a good deed, making a chair – is to empty oneself of innocence.
When people try to be happy, they usually end up unhappy. If happiness is pursued for its own sake, it eludes us. That’s why almost none of the formulas for happiness work in the long run. Happiness happens when we live rightly, and by living rightly I’m not talking about conforming to any objective moral standard. I’m talking about being congruent with our inner selves. Happiness happens when we least expect it, when we’re not trying to be happy.
Humility, like happiness, can’t be sought for its own sake. It’s the byproduct of other efforts, and sometimes of other non-efforts. In fact, it often comes when we stop trying for something: a promotion; a dream job; a lot of money. The most frequent act which leads to happiness is surrender. And surrender is often a difficult task. Like a work of art, surrender can’t be forced. We’re not in control of it. Surrender can’t be accomplished, since it’s the opposite of accomplishment. It leads to humility, which is to be completely aware, yet not conscious of ourselves at the same time.
To be humble is not to be conscious of humility. As soon as I become conscious of humility, it’s like becoming conscious that you’re falling asleep. It wakes you right back up into its opposite state. That’s why humility is such a difficult condition to maintain. It’s found most often in the very young and the very old. For the young aren’t trying to be anything except in the moment. And the old have given up trying to be anything anymore. Wisdom, a byproduct of humility, therefore, is written into the bookends of life. It’s written into life’s beginning and its end, and is usually not found in many of the pages of the book in between. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, wisdom, like humility, is something you have the least of when you think you have the most of it. Socrates made that observation, too, and he never tried to be anything.
My job is to give up trying to be anything other than myself.
© 2025 by Michael C. Just
Mike’s novel, The Dirt: The Journey of a Mystic Cowboy, is available in softcover or eBook formats through Amazon.
You can purchase the book through this website. Or go straight to amazon at https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+dirt+journey+of+a+mystic+cowboy&crid=1S40Q4BXSUWJ6&sprefix=the+dirt%3A+journey+of+a+m%2Caps%2C180&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_23
Mike’s other titles, including The Crippy, The Mind Altar, and Canyon Calls, are available through this website or through Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002
Four of his short stories have recently been published online:
Lies, Ltd. has been published by The Mystery Tribune @ Lies, Ltd.: Literary Short Fiction by Michael C. Just (mysterytribune.com)
The Obligate Carnivore has been published by the Scarlet Leaf Review @ Category: MICHAEL JUST – SCARLET LEAF REVIEW
I See You, Too has been published by the 96th of October @ I See You, Too – 96th of October
Offload, a short story about a man who can heal any disease, is now live and can be read at The Worlds Within at Offload – The Worlds Within