I love words. But some of them can be hard for me to pronounce. Magnanimity is one I stumble over. It helps when I break it down: mag – na – nim – i – ty, but it is still a tongue twister. I also love the word because of what it means. And to understand what it means we need to look at the Latin where we learn that magna is something that is big and animus, refers to our spirit. Therefore, magnanimity means greatness of spirit. It is the opposite of cowardliness or fear filled. Someone who has a magnanimous spirit is generous, not with their resources necessarily, but how they approach life. They are not petty, and they choose to act in ways that are noble.
Basically, people who are magnanimous are open in how they think about the world. Noah Webster of Webster’s dictionary fame, defined magnanimity this way: Greatness of mind; that elevation of dignity of soul, which encounters danger and trouble with tranquility and firmness, which raises the possessor above revenge, and makes him or her delight in acts of benevolence, which makes him or her disdain injustice and meanness, and prompts him to sacrifice personal ease, interest and safety for the accomplishment of useful and noble objects.”
Here’s the thing: I believe we need to be more magnanimous in how we live and work in our communities. Can I get an amen? We live in a world that is angry all the time. I can barely watch the news as all I hear about is violence and war and economic upheaval. We are in a presidential election year and there is more negativity than normal. It is no wonder our mental health has taken a nosedive. We are all struggling. Our quality of life is not what it once was. Please hear me when I say I am not advocating that we go backwards. Waxing nostalgic about the past is just a quick way to get nowhere fast. Because the truth of the matter is that we can’t go back in time. Time only moves forward.
Instead, it is more realistic to acknowledge what we have and then think about how we can make changes for the better in our communities. If we worked together, we might find solutions that worked for our setting that would make life better, not just for ourselves, but for everyone. And guess what? Doing that is being magnanimous. When we think about making things better for everyone, not just a select few, we are acting nobly. Which is pretty cool when you think about it.
Here is the hard part, we see a magnanimous spirit in scripture being displayed by Jesus when he is on the cross as he prays: “Father, forgive them…” We see magnanimity displayed by Stephen at his stoning as he cries out: “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” Being magnanimous also means we are willing to suffer injustice, disgrace, and mistreatment as we choose to respond to what we are experiencing with love, kindness, and gentleness. Being magnanimous is hard because it means treating all people with respect whether they deserve it or not. In fact, deserving has nothing to do with treating people in a respectful way. We act magnanimously because it is the right and noble way to live.
Peace,
Pastor Beth
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