Sunday’s Gospel stemmed from the Book of Matthew, where he discussed humility and the importance of maintaining modesty, in the religious sense, because one must always be respectful of God.

From a secular perspective, one can also see upholding humility as a basic virtue.

The Gospel for the Saturday vigil drew from the Book of Luke, which carried a parallel lesson:

“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place.”

Looking at it from a more nonspiritual sense, the situation is still a humiliating one.

Yet, as discussed in earlier columns, for the overtly-religious population of the Philippines, many of these parables, while read during mass, are often forgotten the moment parishioners make the sign of the cross and walk out of the church – perhaps, dipping one’s fingers in holy water signifies the lessons learned during mass are to be kept within the walls of the church.

On a typical Saturday running errands, one will encounter numerous instances where humility is not practiced.

Psychiatrist, Dr. Neel Burton, discussed humility in a 2014 post for Psychology Today, where he first distinguishes between humility and modesty, calling modesty “good manners” and humility as a “perspective of our human condition.” However, the two terms are interconnected, considering the ways in which one’s personal perspective of the world does impact the way they project themselves.

Walking out of a major supermarket in downtown Bacolod City, hands full of bags after running errands, was walking behind a woman, perhaps in her mid-thirties, and presumably her mother, who both turned when noticing other people in their vicinity; upon reaching the door to exit, despite being fully aware of individuals in tow, they chose to close the door behind them – not even a hint of holding it for a moment.

After that situation, faced a ridiculous traffic jam (one that forced motorists back and forth trying to find a way out of the reclamation area), once through – after about 30 minutes – encountered a pedestrian who, despite being aware of oncoming traffic, chose to stare down the car as she tip-toed across the street – she appeared to be in her mid-to-late fifties.

The age is significant because these were not prepubescent or teenaged individuals who likely would not know any better, or whose immaturity compels them to be obnoxious.

Later, after desperately seeking a detour, was approaching St. Scholastica’s Academy when a motorcycle, with both a driver and a female passenger (who was without a helmet), refused to wait when merging into traffic and nearly caused a collision.

His response? Anger.

It is unclear why he, as the one merging into traffic and, because of his refusal to wait, nearly caused an accident, has the right to be upset. Firstly, he did not have the right of way and, second, he would clearly be the instigator had a collision occurred.

This case brings back memories of one of the first encounters on the roads in Bacolod City, and one recounted in previous columns, after a separate incident nearly getting into an accident with a local motorcyclist, it appears what he said is true of all motorcycle operators in the city, these motorists believe they have free reign of the roads and it is the onus of other drivers to be mindful of them – a pretty elevated sense of self.

Going back to the lessons from mass, how do these actions show one’s ability to express humility?

The same can be said for jeepney and tricycle drivers, who take it to another level by throwing in hypocrisy.

They and their supporters are constantly making their voices heard, calling for the public’s sympathy for their “plight.” Over and over again, the public is called to have pity on these public utility vehicle operators because it is their livelihood.

Yet, their livelihood often times means cutting in and out of traffic, causing traffic congestion by constantly refusing to pull over and stopping in the middle of the road to let passengers on or off, slowing down the flow of traffic because they are too occupied eyeing the sidewalks for potential riders – putting one’s personal desires over all else, to the point it causes inconvenience for others, is not a practice of a humble individual.

What makes it worse is the false pitiful persona they try to portray for the media – then turns it into manipulating the public.

Burton makes a point that may explain how a lack of humility may be contributing to why jeepney and tricycle drivers believe they are deserving of such esteem.

“Humble people are often highly productive,” he explained. “If he is stuck in a rut and unable to learn from his mistakes, it is very likely that he thinks too much about himself.”

For them, it’s a matter of relying on the public to support them. Considering the superiority they purport to attain (which is obvious through their actions), it is likely they feel there is no room for improvement and the idea of being “stuck in a rut” is a completely foreign concept.

Is it that difficult to be respectful to others?

It is not a matter of fawning over each other, but more along the lines of treating everybody equally. The Bible readings from this past weekend call on individuals to not put themselves above others, yet, why do experiences of arrogant disrespect greatly outnumber instances of common courtesy – personally, over the past nearly five years, the number of times somebody held a door, said “please” and “thank you” (outside of a customer service scenario), or stopped to give way to another person can literally be counted on one hand.

An article for Inc. Magazine by Marcel Schwantes discussed the importance of humility; his focus was on the importance of leaders to practice humility in order to earn respect.

“Humble leaders achieve greatness without arrogance,” he wrote. “They shift from ego to humility, which can drastically alter the outcome to their advantage.”

In the same way in which being humble can attain a positive response, it is how being polite to one person can prompt them to extend the same to another (the “pay it forward” theory) – although, for the local populace, niceness may be construed as subservience.

In addition, for those who are openly hypocritical by claiming to attend mass but act otherwise, he noted, “Calling yourself ‘humble’ is something you cannot do, because the very admission of it exposes you as potentially cocky.”

It has previously been discussed, the ways in which most city residents place themselves above those around them – even their peers (it has been said for decades, that is a primary character trait of people from the province). This creates a toxic environment for everyone. A little respect doesn’t harm anybody; however, in a locale that praises God for every little instance in their life, yet are unwilling to follow lessons from the Gospel (that really is just basic common sense and courtesy), it’s safe to say those filling the pews every Sunday are just there for show./WDJ