The Book of Joy

when she handed him the book, and he took out his pen, she said, “You
are Bishop Muzorewa, aren’t you?”
None of us are immune to the all-too-human traits of pride or ego, but
true arrogance really comes from insecurity. Needing to feel that we are
bigger than others comes from a nagging fear that we are smaller.
Whenever the Dalai Lama senses this danger, he looks at a bug or some
other creature and reminds himself that, in some ways, this creature is
better than we are, because it is innocent and free of malice. “When we
realize that we are all children of God,” the Archbishop has explained,
“and of equal and intrinsic value, then we don’t have to feel better or
worse than others.” The Archbishop was adamant: “No one is a divine
accident.” While we may not be special, we are essential. No one can
fulfill our role but us in the divine plan or karmic unfolding.
“Sometimes we confuse humility with timidity,” the Archbishop
explained. “This gives little glory to the one who has given us our gifts.
Humility is the recognition that your gifts are from God, and this lets you
sit relatively loosely to those gifts. Humility allows us to celebrate the
gifts of others, but it does not mean you have to deny your own gifts or
shrink from using them. God uses each of us in our own way, and even if
you are not the best one, you may be the one who is needed or the one
who is there.”
I recalled how the night before the interviews began I had tossed and
turned in bed, feeling quite insecure and nervous. I was going to have to
interview these two great spiritual teachers and needed to make sure I
was asking the right questions. We had one opportunity to get this right—
one opportunity to capture this historic meeting and series of dialogues
for the world. I was not a news anchor or journalist. Surely there were
many others who were more qualified to conduct the interviews. I was
attempting to do something I had never done before, and whenever we
challenge ourselves, fear and doubt are inevitable. I am not sure we ever
vanquish these voices. Whenever we are at the edge of our ability and
experience, they always whisper in our ears, their worried words. I have
come to see that these voices are actually trying to keep us safe as they
warn us away from the unfamiliar and the unknown, but this does not