This has got to be one of the most confusing topics there is. Especially when we, as addicts and alcoholics, run across it in the 12 steps. Barely getting passed the God deal we are confronted with an instruction that few can fully comprehend. If we ask for advice or insight we’ll get a wide range of responses that will do little to diminish the vagueness we face in the whole idea. Why is it necessary to humbly ask a power greater than ourselves to remove our difficulties? Why, humbly?

It strikes me that in writing this line there was some predisposition to “who” that power would be. Whoever wrote it, wrote it for their own reasons. Why humbly? Why not just ask? Wouldn’t that work? Asking humbly sounds like we’re paying a toll. I’ll give you what you ask – you can cross the bridge – if you do something. If you give me what I want, I’ll take care of you. At least that’s how it sounds to me. For sure it suggests that this greater power has a personality. It’s suggested that “the power” is going to react to how we pose the question.

On the other hand I read Bills response: When asked what the difference was between character defects and difficulties – He replied, “There really is no difference, I just didn’t want to use the same words so close together”. I understand, I wanted to use confusing twice in the first paragraph and decided to use vagueness instead. I wonder how many people really understand words like humble? For me it feels like servitude. In fact originally that’s pretty much where it came from. The humble servant. Knowing ones place. I included a lot of resources in the bibliography below. From what I can gather, from most definitions, humble is not something I’d strive to be. But there I am faced with the conditional suggestion to – Humbly ask.

I mentioned earlier that I chose a definition for humility from a quote by Gandhi. It said that humility was an accurate assessment of ones assets and liabilities. My faults and my strengths – realistically assessed. A good rule of thumb for an accurate assessment is to let others point out the assets – favorable aspects to our character. As far as the steps go we need only unearth those things that threaten our sanity and therefore our ability to recover. This being said, how does it figure into our quest for an all round unburdening? For me, the bottom line in all this is not so much – what exactly the word means. It may be of some concern to me – why it was posed this way. But again, it’s just a human being writing things out the way he thinks is best at the time. Fairly important is the question of where am I to direct my question? Who or what am I supposed to be asking, humbly or not? And why do I need to ask anything of anything?

The whole higher power idea says there is help afforded us. It says we probably won’t be able to do this by ourselves. If we can get passed the “I can do it, I don’t need help place…” we have made steps in the right direction. The right direction being completely free of addictions. For me it is freedom from addictions and anything else that stands in the way of me being happy. That includes any ideas about “my happiness” that get in the way of “my happiness”. If I admit I’m powerless over whatever my addictions are, this just means, to me, that I’ll need some outside help. Outside help being something that’s not me. Does that mean that, like is often said around the meetings, that a god of my understanding can be anything I choose, as long as it’s not me? How does, not being me translate into a higher power: power greater that myself? There are a lot of things that aren’t me, that I have absolute power over. Door knobs and light bulbs are obvious examples. So the “anything but me” suggestion is misleading. I need power that I don’t possess. It might be that I possess the power I need but I don’t know how to wield it. I may not believe I have it. If this is the case, even if I do have the power, it’s of no use to me. Whatever the case – we’re after whatever works.

What do I mean by works? Whatever removes us from our addictions. By the time we get to the humility question we should be setting there with a list of liabilities we like to see gone. We’ve found stuff that is making us miserable and we want to be rid of it. So we are supposed to get help from a power greater than ourselves. The fact is, we’ve already been getting it. We’ve cooperated with life when we practiced the universal/spiritual principles necessary to get to this point. Life is, for now, a power greater than ourselves. Principles, for now, are a power greater than ourselves. We are being assisted right now. The only way, and I mean the only way, we can screw this up now – is to stop.

So what do we ask and how. We could certainly ask whatsoever has been helping us for more of the same. Don’t have a clear picture of what’s been helping? Good. Me neither. Doesn’t hinder us in any way. In fact I thinks it’s the best place to be. So much so that I have no intention of knowing any more than I do right now. If I found myself thinking I knew more I’d consider it – drifting off the path. How do we ask what we don’t know for help with what we don’t understand? It goes like this, “Hey, everything that could ever possibly be available? Yeah, it’s me, I want you to direct me to whatever is best”. Thanks.

There, pretty easy huh? Doesn’t mean anything else will be. Just means that as far as asking – something – for something – we’re on the other side of it now. You can ask once in the morning. Or you you can just talk to it all day long. You can ask and then go to the bar to find sex and drugs. You can ask and then pay attention to everything that passes your way and attempt to make the most of it. The asking isn’t a cure. You could ask for a cab to pick you up and help you get from here to there – does this guarantee you’ll get there? If you want a ride to someplace else – you have to be where you are. The cab company knows where you are. Life, higher powers, everything that is – knows where you are. That means you are in the right place right now.

Bibliography~

The entry from “The Oxford English Dictionary” [OED] proposes the date of circa 1375 for the word’s first WRITTEN entry into the English language. Of course, it could have well been used ORALLY before that. It comes from the Latin word “humilis,” meaning “low,” which, in turn, comes from the Latin “humus,” which means “earth” or “dirt” or “soil.”

Ted Nesbitt
http://www.allexperts.com/ep/1474-31636/Etymology-Meaning-Words/Ted-Nesbitt.htm

Adjective:
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin humilis low, humble, from humus earth; akin to Greek chth?n earth, chamai on the ground

Date: 13th century

1: not proud or haughty : not arrogant or assertive2: reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission 3 a: ranking low in a hierarchy or scale : insignificant, unpretentious b: not costly or luxurious

Transition Verb
1 : to make humble in spirit or manner 2 : to destroy the power, independence, or prestige of…

Humility: noun
Date: 14th century:

the quality or state of being humble…

The rest of the resources on humility:

Looked up human at Dictionary.com
c.1250, from M.Fr. humain “of or belonging to man,” from L. humanus, probably related to homo (gen. hominis) “man,” and to humus “earth,” on notion of “earthly beings,” as opposed to the gods (cf. Heb. adam “man,” from adamah “ground”). Cognate with O.Lith. zmuo (acc. zmuni) “man, male person.” Displaced its O.E. cognate guma (from P.Gmc. *guman-) which survives only in disguise in bridegroom. First record of humankind is from 1645. Humanoid (1918) is a hybrid of L. humanus and Gk. -oeides “like,” from eidos “form, shape” (see -oid).

humble (adj.) at Dictionary.com
c.1250, from O.Fr. humble, earlier humele, from L. humilis “lowly, humble,” lit. “on the ground,” from humus “earth.” Senses of “not self-asserting” and “of low birth or rank” were both in M.E. The verb is c.1380 in the intrans. sense of “to render oneself humble;” 1484 in the trans. sense of “to lower (someone) in dignity.”

c.1386, from O.Fr. humiliation, from L.L. humiliationem (nom. humiliatio) “humbling, humiliation,” from L. humiliare “to humble,” from humilis “humble.” Humiliate is c.1533, a back-formation of this.

humility at Dictionary.com
c.1315, from O.Fr. humilité, from L. humilitatem (nom. humilitas) “lowness, insignificance,” in Church L. “meekness,” from humilis “humble.” In the Mercian hymns, L. humilitatem is glossed by O.E. eaðmodnisse.

humility/hyumlti or, often, yu-/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [hyoo-mil-i-tee or, often, yoo-] Show IPA–noun
the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance, rank, etc.

Origin: 1275–1325; ME humilite < L humilit?s. See humble, -ty 2

Synonyms:
lowliness, meekness, submissiveness.

Antonyms:
pride.

hu·mil·i·ty (hy??-m?l'?-t?)
n. The quality or condition of being humble.

Humility
Hu*mil"i*ty\, n.; pl. Humilities. [OE. humilite, OF. humilit['e], humelit['e], F. humilit['e], fr. L.
humiliatis. See Humble.]

1. The state or quality of being humble; freedom from pride and arrogance; lowliness of mind; a modest estimate of one's own worth; a sense of one's own unworthiness through imperfection and sinfulness; self-abasement; humbleness.

Serving the Lord with all humility of mind. --Acts xx. 19.

2. An act of submission or courtesy.

With these humilities they satisfied the young king. --Sir J. Davies.

Syn: Lowliness; humbleness; meekness; modesty; diffidence.

Usage: Humility, Modesty, Diffidence. Diffidence is a distrust of our powers, combined with a fear lest our failure should be censured, since a dread of failure unconnected with a dread of censure is not usually called diffidence. It may be carried too far, and is not always, like modesty and humility, a virtue. Modesty, without supposing self-distrust, implies an unwillingness to put ourselves forward, and an absence of all over-confidence in our own powers. Humility consists in rating our claims low, in being willing to waive our rights, and take a lower place than might be our due. It does not require of us to underrate ourselves.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

humility:
c.1315, from O.Fr. humilité, from L. humilitatem (nom. humilitas) "lowness, insignificance," in Church L. "meekness," from humilis "humble." In the Mercian hymns, L. humilitatem is glossed by O.E. eaðmodnisse.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source:

Humility:
a prominent Christian grace (Rom. 12:3; 15:17, 18; 1 Cor. 3:5-7; 2 Cor. 3:5; Phil. 4:11-13). It is a state of mind well pleasing to God (1 Pet. 3:4); it preserves the soul in tranquility (Ps. 69:32, 33), and makes us patient under trials (Job 1:22). Christ has set us an example of humility (Phil. 2:6-8). We should be led thereto by a remembrance of our sins (Lam. 3:39), and by the thought that it is the way to honour (Prov. 16:18), and that the greatest promises are made to the humble (Ps. 147:6; Isa. 57:15; 66:2; 1 Pet. 5:5). It is a “great paradox in Christianity that it makes humility the avenue to glory.”