The sixth step of humility asks us to be completely content with the lowest and most menial treatment, and to consider ourselves poor and worthless workmen in whatever task we are given. We have absolutely no sense of "enoughness."
We spend our lives climbing ladders, chasing upgrades, and demanding recognition. Living with this constant pursuit of excess causes us to lose our true place in the world. When we are constantly surrounded by privilege, praise, or the frantic desire for more, the ego inflates. We inevitably begin to believe that the story is really all about us.
Benedict’s instruction to embrace the menial is not about self-hatred or degradation. It is a deliberate practice of emptying. When we do the dishes, take out the trash, or accept being overlooked without a flare of resentment, we are actively dismantling our own entitlement.
When we stop demanding to be treated as special, we stop wasting energy defending our status. We finally let go and surrender. And it is only in that profound letting go—in the quiet, unglamorous acceptance of being ordinary—that we create the necessary room in our souls for what this world alone cannot offer: the Creator within.
It is a beautiful paradox: by voluntarily accepting the lowest place, we are finally freed from the exhausting burden of our own importance and we unconditionally accept His Grace and the Way.
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