Chapter 7 part 7 June 1

The third degree of humility is that a person for love of God submit himself to his Superior in all obedience, imitating the Lord, of whom the Apostle says, "He became obedient even unto death."

Obedience gets a bad wrap, even from me. Particularly from me. Virtually every human is programmed with self will arising out of a self-centered inner core which does not first think of the best interest of others. I certainly fit the description as well, if not better, then most.

Who doesn't decide what to wear, where to go, when to go, what to eat, what to do, what to watch on TV, even to watch TV. We are besieged by social media which exposes us to group think, group act, group police which promises us we can exercise free will but in reality it works to close down our choices but luring us to  places we don't need to go, should not go, should not eat or to just full into the trap of more. Freewill is constrained by the law, custom and is many ways we can't even imagine.

When we are young we are taught to obey our parents, elders in our family, churches, teachers in school, law enforcement officers of all stripes and on and on. Eventually we leave school and find jobs where we are expected obey supervisors, managers, owners and others to whom we are below in rank. When we marry we even profess and promise to obey our spouses.

I don't live in a monastery and never will. There is no one in my life to who I would, for the love of God,  submit to in humility. At this stage of life when I am one bad mood, or even one good mood away from retirement, there is not chance I will submit to one of my superiors and I would seriously doubt they would even try to force me to submit, not that any of them would be inclined as long as we all maintain  rationale thought and a degree of sanity.

Obedience, however, is not just about behavior or following instructions. My life goes so much better when I obey my wife and even better when we obey each other. We do so, not just for the love of each other, but for the love of God. I submit to my mother out of respect and appreciation. I obey the priests who speak in the words of the lord understanding obedience is listening at the level of an encounter. To accept learning, wisdom and knowledge from another is to obey them so I obey those who can offer me those things as well. In AA, we submit to a sponsor who guides through mazes we can't navigate without assistance.

The third step of humility is not just for those who are cloistered, it is for all of who wish to accept help or direction from someone offers that which we need. All is conditional on the love of God and the love for God and a desire to unity with him.