Years ago, Stephen heard theologian Henri Nouwen recount a simple Zen parable: a politician visits a master for wisdom, only to have his teacup filled until it overflows. “How can I teach you,” the master asks, “unless you first empty your cup?”

At the time, Stephen admits, he was far more like the cocky politician than the humble student. But over the years, the lesson settled in: you cannot take in what is new, true, or wise if you are already full of yourself.

In today’s political and cultural climate, that ancient insight feels almost foreign. Is there still space for humility among our leaders? Is there even an appetite for wisdom? Or have we become so saturated with opinion, outrage, and algorithm-fed certainty that we’ve lost the capacity to empty our cup?

In this episode, Stephen reflects on humility as a civic and spiritual discipline. He names the pull of tech-saturated media, the shredding of shared values, and the temptation to be swallowed whole by cynicism or fear. Yet he insists we still have agency. We can keep faith with truth. We can practice compassion. We can choose resilient courage and recommit to the common good.

Rebuilding our common life won’t happen through spectacle or online performance. It will happen brick by brick—through embodied community, kindness instead of cruelty, and the quiet, countercultural act of emptying our cup.

Living in the meantime requires nothing less.

Transcript:

Many years ago, while still in graduate school, I heard theologian Henri Nouwen tell the story of a politician, who, in a moment of rare self-awareness, decided to visit a Zen master to ask for wisdom in how he might govern. Nan-in, the Zen master, served him tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full and then just kept on pouring. The politician watched the cup overflow until he could no longer restrain himself. “It’s overflowing, Nan-in. The cup cannot hold any more.” “Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and attitudes. How can I teach you anything unless you first empty your cup?” At the time, I was a cocky young stand-in for the politician, but the lesson lodged somewhere in the back of my mind. It took a while for the cockiness to subside enough to let Nan-in’s wisdom gradually seep into full consciousness and by then I had confirmed the hard way, this basic law of personal physics, which predicts you can’t take in something new if you’re already full of yourself. Pithy bit of wisdom that requires constant renewal for those with the heart for it.

But honestly, the political/cultural environment has evolved so dramatically, Nouwen’s little parable today seems a quaintly irrelevant story from an alternate universe. You mean to say there was a time when the politicians and potentates had even a little itch to learn something new? A place where the tiniest shred of humility sparked a desire for wisdom on how best to serve the greater good? An actual country where politicians and capitalists would entertain emptying their cup for the sake of growing into wiser, humbler versions of themselves? That would really be something!

The trick for those of us striving to keep our wits living in the meantime today--in the universe we actually inhabit--involves holding fast to our deepest values especially as we witness their shredding within the political and cultural elites captured by a tech-saturated media seeking to swallow us up whole. Some days it feels like we’re hanging on for dear life from getting sucked into the dark void. But it’s really important--necessary--we remind ourselves we have agency for keeping faith with basic things, with basic human goodness--like, simple truth (keeping faith with truth), compassion for all persons, resilient courage, and a passionate regard for the common good. We saw these things recently modeled in Minneapolis. As these next weeks and months unfold, we’ll likely need to look to ourselves for modeling behavior as we re-center attention on our better angels. We can do this. We need to do this. It’s so important to join with other people--in the flesh--and not just online. To touch one another, reaching out compassionately, practicing kindness in lieu of cruelty, and when called upon, sacrificing comfort. These are very basic things we can do. Thoughtfully rebuilding the structures of our common life one brick at a time.

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