I've been thinking a lot about what has been happening over the past year in my life and in the world, and I have one word that reflects my now-54-year-old perspective: humility.

When it comes to the word "humility" I'm like the Fonz trying to say "love". Remember that?

I always have an answer, and I'm always right--and my resourcefulness and track record validate that mentality. Why go through life any other way?

But, something sort of changed over the past year in particular. Maybe being empty-nesters created the right moment for the evolution I am speaking of.

And, there are some other things that have contributed to what I call a next level of maturity or wisdom with its basis in humility. In particular, I have been doing some consulting for a priest who is a good family and personal friend.

But let me back up even further in time to about 8 years ago when I consulted a different parish to help them articulate their mission and vision and a path to pursue it. The pastor happened to be the exorcist for the diocese. I've never met a more calm, holy person. Just being near him I felt inspired to think about God's presence in my life.

That was the beginning of a shift.

Then I did a project with a different pastor about 4 years ago. In this project we went around the diocese interviewing priests so that we could provide some insights to the Bishop about the culture among the priests, and to help the Bishop discern what resources the priests might need to better cope in today's culture that has shifted so far away from humility and into the forever slippery realm of relativism (a precursor to communism, by the way, since there will always be a certain elite who position themselves to be the "pigs" among the farm animals who believe relativism is their nirvana--a reference to "Animal Farm" for those who never read it).

Anyway, during one of our visits there were 6 other priests. We broke for lunch and I had the good fortune and honor to sit around a kitchen table for an hour making sandwiches and small talk. They trusted the priest who brought me to the meeting, and so they trusted me. If I had had a priest's collar on, you'd think I was a fellow priest the way they talked around me.

At this lunch the topic of our culture came up. And it got pretty dark. I listened as they talked about witches covens that exist in various towns around the diocese. I learned about the exorcisms that have been taking place and increasing in number. I learned about homes that had active demonic possessions but an exorcism could not be conducted because it requires that the person/people living in that home invite the priest into the home--and to hear the stories of how someone in the early stages of possession would make excuse after excuse about how the priest couldn't come into the home was remarkable. It was serious talk. It was not entertainment. There was no laughter or casual commentary around the kitchen table as the priests discussed the prominent rise in demonic presence among the communities they served. It scared the shit out of me. What stuck with me most prominently was when one of the priests said, "Demons are real, and what most people don't realize is that demons are eternal--so time is meaningless to them. They have all the time in the world to wait patiently and to slowly chip away at your humanness so as to take control of your soul. They are in no hurry. They move in tiny increments so that you don't even know. If you are not aware of this danger and you are not actively inviting God into your life every day, and worse, if you're doing things that open the door for a demon to latch onto you... then you are in great peril."

Hearing him say that made me think that it is not good enough to just "be". You have to "do". You have to be proactive in your pursuit of a life of goodness that not only fights back the evil but builds the good. It is a choice. And it takes humility to make this choice.

Some of you are Catholic. Others, Christian. Some practicing, some not. Some don't believe in a higher being. I'm not here to judge. I'm just putting out a pretty simple message: The evil is real, and it is spiritual in nature with a desire to corrupt the corporeal. And if the spiritual evil is real, then the opposite must also be real. That's not why I believe in God... but it is a pretty good catalyst and starting point for any person to think about their reality perhaps a little differently, and perhaps ask some new questions that have nothing to do with religion as a human construct.

I'll leave you with something that is special to me and my wife and that has filled our lives, relationship and home with such positivity in the past year. We begin our day each morning with coffee, and holding each other closely we say this prayer:

"Dear God,

Thank you for today.

We are grateful for our blessings and all that You have provided for us.

Please guide us to increase our faith, to see Your presence in our day today, and to do Your will.

Fill us with Your grace so that we may be channels of Your love, peace, hope, healing and happiness for others.

Our special intentions include: (fill in with the day's intentions, what's on your mind, in your heart)

We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Amen."

I know that a prayer like this may not be your style, and you certainly might not be comfortable saying it out loud in front of someone or with someone. Some of you won't even be willing or interested to say it. I encourage you to just say it once, to yourself, in your mind. It takes humility. The demons in our lives don't want us to make these statements... so please try to fight back.

Edit: Whoa! I am blown away and humbled by the replies here. I am grateful that God is so present among us. I will reply to each of you (at least as a form of thank you) as soon as I can. We are a family... and we are blessed... and supporting each other in our spiritual journey is part of the Great Awakening.