Humble Me

April 17, 2009

Do you ever find yourself caught up with the things you don’t have? Maybe, from time to time, you think, “I deserve more than this.” Maybe it’s been a while since you got a raise, and you’re thinking, “I work hard every day, and it’s about time I got some more money.”

If you’re like me, it’s about the time you’re dreaming of that new flat screen when you hear about someone close to you struggling to pay her rent or buy groceries. And you get that sinking feeling – that realization that you got so caught up in yourself and your wants that you forgot about somebody who was struggling just to get by.

Maybe this is when you pray, “Lord, let me be grateful for all that I have, and help me remember those with so little.”

I think this is what Sharon Jones is talking about when she sings:

When I start demanding
More than the rest
When I start moaning
I didn’t get the best

Just remind me of the man
With nothing to eat
And remind me of the other man
With no shoes on his feet

These lyrics come from a song by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings called “Humble Me.” In the song, Jones seems to offer a prayer, asking God to “Humble me, humble me. Don’t let me forget who I am.” She sings:

And when you hear me asking
For all kinds of fancy things
Things you never had, no
And things you know you can’t bring
Don’t be afraid to
Humble me…

This particular verse is fascinating because Jones says “things you never had.” But if she is in fact talking to God, who created all things, why does she say “things you never had?” I don’t know for sure what she had in mind, but I do know that God, who could have come to earth as a king, came instead as a servant. No flat screen. No house. He could’ve had fancy things, and He could bring us fancy things now. But it’s not about those things, is it? It’s about loving God, and loving each other (especially the man “with no shoes on his feet”). How humbling is that?