In our contemporary world, we take great pride in our human abilities, especially intelligence. For millennia, we have learned to value and use our intellectual capacities to accomplish great things. Think of the digital devices in our hands, visually transporting us to remote geographical places; or consider the number of medical and scientific advances that are now commonplace. Things that would have been hard to imagine or impossible to achieve now come to pass.

Truth be told, we live in an age where human skills, abilities and intelligence are second to none. The intellectual marvels and accomplishments that permeate daily life are admirable and exciting — which should also inspire pride and gratitude in all of us. Far from shying away from different abilities and skills, we should do our best to cultivate and increase them, especially in service of the common good. There is no need to diminish our human competence or somehow end up feeling guilty for being intelligent.

With a healthy sense of pride and gratitude in our heart, we must also admit that our human competence can only take us so far. Experience teaches us that not everything we encounter or see necessitates our immediately having the answer. There are moments when it is most helpful to step back and reflect on what is needed. Said differently, there are times when our hearts need to process what our intellect perceives — cognitive and emotional intelligence are both helpful and needed.

Spiritually, the unity of mind and heart is present when we engage in prayerful discernment. And, as with any spiritual practice, our discernment requires us to practice the virtues of humility, prayer and docility or openness to the Spirit of truth and life — this, of course, is easier said than done! Experience shows us that we more readily question and suspect truthful authority, for example, than openly assent to it. Quite frankly, we don’t easily trust other’s insights or wisdom.

Part of the difficulty with being humble and docile to the Spirit, then, comes from our own cultural biases. We tend to equate docility with passivity, easy to control or uncritical submissiveness. To come across as meek, obedient and pliable isn’t always socially acceptable. Compounding these perceptions is the propensity to overestimate being opinionated, self-determined and having a strong personal grit.

In prayer and discernment, however, far from relying on our own personal prowess and knowledge, we open ourselves up to the wisdom that comes from above. In humility and through the grace of docility, we trust the goodness and yield to the truth the Spirit offers each one of us: “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy” (James 3: 17).

When we appear to be preoccupied with asserting our knowledge without consideration for the wisdom of others or when we are obsessed with our will to power with little regard for those who are most vulnerable in our midst, discernment and docility in the Spirit of truth and life have much to teach us: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11: 29-30). May our learning in Christ bring us closer to one another.

Javier Orozco is executive director of human dignity and intercultural affairs for the Archdiocese of St. Louis.