Who is Emiliano Zapata?

It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.
- Emiliano Zapata

I woke up this morning, and got on my computer, and this quote was staring me in the face. On my home page, I have a quote of the day, usually the likes of Ralph Waldo Emerson, or Michelangelo, or some such person that I do recognize. But today it's Mr. Zapata. Watch me be the stupid only person in the world who does not know who he is. Please enlighten me if you do.

This quote struck me in a couple of different ways. One, it reminded me of how I try so hard to live on my feet, to do it on my own, but somehow I always end up on my knees. And it hurts when I fall to my knees!! I think this quote is very backwards. I wish I had the humility to live life on my knees. I would rather die on my knees praising Jesus, than live trying to do everything on my own and even succeeding in earthly standards. This quote also struck me because I assume that Emiliano is an older person, possibly no longer living this life that he lived on his feet. And it just reminded me of what the world tells us Christians. And that the struggle to live in humility and resist prideful gain isn't new. It was obviously around when he made this quote. And it was obviously around in the Bible. Sometimes I think that life's struggles, or my struggles, are central and new and unique to me and my place in time. I am so wrong. It's an age old human tendency to desire independence, to be able to walk and stand with no help from others. We should pray to learn dependence on Christ, and learn what it looks like to live life on our knees.