Review
Title: Humility: A Practical Approach
Author: Shawn Tucker
Publisher: BCC Press
Genre: Non-Fiction
Year Published: 2021
Number of Pages: 192
Binding: Paper
ISBN: 978-1948218450
Price: 12.95
Reviewed by Amanda Ray for the Association for Mormon Letters
One of the immediate things I am struck by from Shawn Tucker’s book Humility: A Practical Approach is how it originated as letters to his missionary daughter. Already that frames the book as a loving discussion, made to be easily digestible while still offering a wonderful array of thoughts to dwell on. I read Humility in daily sessions focusing on each chapter and had plenty to appreciate and share as I went through it.
The book is divided into two sections, the first section is on humility and our relationship with God, and the second is on humility and our relationships with others. Tucker builds on the concepts he provides, starting with a barebones explanation of the definition of humility and how it may be different than the one we may see so often in Sunday School, allowing us room to enlarge our understanding of the concept. It’s a well-paced journey with plenty of thought-provoking concepts and questions.
Tucker starts by running through scenarios of real people the author knows to show how humility has been expressed in their experiences. He refers to these scenarios a few times throughout the book. He highlights the ways they had found humility in their experiences, whether that was accepting a situation from the Lord they didn’t seek out or accepting the blessing they had been given. I immediately identified with each of the scenarios in different ways. I saw how similar circumstances had come my way that showed the Lord’s hand in my life. It’s a nice Sunday School approach of giving real-life examples from people the reader may recognize and reiterates that the work of humility is a collaboration between God and God’s children. To really experience and understand humility, we need the social aspect of working with and learning from others.
There are plenty of thought-provoking questions throughout, and a few stuck with me. Asking myself, as the author demonstrates, “do I see God as an enemy right now, or do I see God as a friend?” can do so much to alter a situation, and this practically became the kind of thing I wanted as a scripture glue-in and little magnet card from a good Sunday School lesson.
Probably my favorite part of Humility is the author’s discussion of the Pride Cycle many of us are familiar with from Book of Mormon study. Tucker introduces a Revised Pride Cycle concept that seems to give a more realistic (and less fatalistic) approach to how we as humans interact with each other, choosing between humility and enmity and what course those decisions make. The idea clicked in my head in a more reasonable way, while still resonating with the original message of the Pride Cycle.
Humility: A Practical Approach is a guide on how we can make incremental changes to become better people. How we can take the little puzzle pieces of the gospel that we know and slowly bring them together to gain a greater appreciation. Tucker is not introducing anything new or wild but gently reminding the reader of how humility works in a grander scheme and bringing it back to an accessible and familiar way of understanding it in our daily lives. It’ll make a great supplemental to future church lessons and talks, as well as being a good read for those who want a lighter and still substantial gospel book.