Chapter 7: The value of humility (paragraph 14)

I was raised up high in honour but then I was humbled and overwhelmed with confusion. In the end we may learn to say: it was good for me, Lord, that you humbled me so I might learn your precepts. (From para. 14 of Ch. 7 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

Confusion in emotional matters can lead me to make assumptions and even to get angry. My ego greatly dislikes feeling put down or rejected, and it can strike back in fear. But I'm learning that the very experience of humbling confusion can be a call, a clear call, to the cleansing work of meditation.