With God's Help

With God's Help

By Senam Adedze '19, Senior Class President

When thinking about how I should write this reflection, I first thought, "how can I make this the most entertaining, most insightful, and most memorable reflection -- the best reflection of all time?" This way of thinking is probably why some of my classmates were a little confused when they found out I was chosen to reflect on the virtue of humility. And I don't fault them for this, because when I found out, I immediately thought of all the reasons why I was unqualified. I tried to comfort myself by saying, "Well, Senam, it's pretty humble of you to admit you aren't the perfect example of humility, so maybe you are an expert on the subject."

I'll let you dwell on the contradictions in that sentence.

What my friends might call annoying cockiness, I like to call a healthy dose of self-confidence. I believe in "speaking things into existence," which is a really nice way of saying "fake it till you make it." Almost constantly, I tell myself I will succeed, even if I don't necessarily believe it. On a typical day, I'll say to myself: "I will stay awake and finish my homework," or "I'm not dropping this class, I'm getting an A in this class!" and more recently, "I will finish this college application!"

It's not a foolproof method, clearly, but this way of thinking has pretty much gotten me through high school so far. It was only until I started seriously reflecting on the virtue of humility that I noticed some discrepancies.

There is nothing inherently wrong with telling yourself, "I can do anything I set my mind to." The problem is the pronoun. "I." It assumes that all the responsibility falls on me. Said another way, it's "I myself can do anything I set my mind too." and "I, acting alone, can succeed." It's a form of pride that might be hard to detect. Thinking this way neglects the absolute truth that although you make your own choices, God is with you every single step of the way. He bears your pain in times of difficulty and celebrates with you in your triumphs. True humility is reminding yourself that there is nothing worthwhile that we can achieve without God's help. Knowing He is with us always is a source of immense comfort and a source of strength. Think of all the things you can achieve with God, the creator of all that is good and true and beautiful. The possibilities are quite literally endless.

Now, I'm not saying we should completely do away with self-affirmation. I personally wouldn't last without it. But if God's dwelling place is in peace, I'd just like to propose a little edit to our "I" statements. Instead of simply saying, "I can do anything I set my mind to," you can say:

"With God's help, I can do anything I set my mind to."

"With God's help, I can fake it till I make it."

"With God's help, I can speak things into existence."

Senam first gave this address to the student body at our Founders' Day celebration last Thursday.