Pride

Recently TV news caught my attention, "a mother and daughter dead." Article after article in the Dallas Morning News about this mother and daughter piqued my interest. This was an affluent family, but after the father died, the mother and daughter found they were seriously in debt. Apparently the mother or daughter did not share their problems with anyone, and as their problems worsened they became desperate. So desperate that murder and suicide seemed the only way to end their problems.



"Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall." Proberbs 16:18



Looks are deceiving. Many people don't know how to present themselves to others, or share with another their real concerns. Each of us as unique individuals can live with other people , not apart from them. Pride can be a real detriment to a person. Pride is one of the Seven Deadly Sins listed in the Bible (Gal. 5:19-21). Those sins warn us of that not to do. But we need more than that. We need to learn how to reach out to others. We are not alone in the world. What can each one of us do ,as individuals, to make our world a better place? With our deeds and our exampled we can look to the opposite of the 'Seven Deadly Sins' to the 'Fruit of the Spirit', where love and kindness reaches out to others (Gal. 5:22-23).



Love is defined as 'an intense affectionate concern for another person, or in Biblical terms 'God's benevolence and mercy toward man.' Love embraces understanding of human weakness and the ability also to see the good in others. It has been said that to really love is not to live for one's self alone, but to help one another.



Kindness is an act of feeling of benevolence, good will or affection. Someone has said kindness is never lost; it may meet with ingratitude, or be of no service to those on whom it was bestowed, yet it ever does a work of beauty and grace upon the heart of the giver.



It is sad that the mother & daughter did not seek help or confide in a neighbor or friend, but let us not forget Love and Kindness for they are the keys to happiness and peace.

Boasting or Modesty

Sometimes the commercials are more interesting than the programs. One such commercial is about two men obviously boasting about their surgeries.

Sometimes boasting or bragging can backfire as in this story: A very wealthy lady was showing her new maid all the rooms in their fabulous house and their wall-to-wall furniture, and boasting about everything. Finally she said to her maid: "This dining room suite goes all the way back to Louis, the fourteenth. The maid replies: "Well lady, you don't have nothing on me. My whole living room suite goes back to Sears & Roebuck on the 13th."

We all know people who boast about their home, car, boat, vacations and jewelry. You get the point. Here are some old sayins:

The empty vessel makes the greatest sound. (Shakespeare)
Never cackle until the egg is laid.
The bigger a man's head gets, the esier it is to fill his shoes.
"We sure shook that bridge," the mouse said to the elephant after they had crossed the bridge.
If you wish people to speak well of you, then do not speak of yourself.
Confusius wrote: "Humility is the foundation of all virtues."

You might say Modesty and Humility are first cousins. Modesty is not a weak and timid quality; it must however be carefylly distinguished from a groveling spirit. Although Pride is one of the 'seven deadly sins,' there is such a thing as a honest pride and self-respect.

We should avoid some four letter words, but utilize these: work, pray and love.

"The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom and humility goes before honor." Proverbs 15:33

The more humble a person is before God, the more he will be exalted.

Worry

Bill is a walking time bomb. Both of his carotid veins are 98% blocked. Do we have surgery or not? If he doesn't have the surgery, the chances are high that he will have a stroke one day, but there is also danger in the surgery. So we are trying to take it one day at a time.

I have to remind myself it is futile and actually wasteful to lose time and even jeopardize my health by constant worrying. By worrying about problems , you can feel like you're just going around in circles and getting nowhere. Moreover, you are courting hypertension, ulcers,
despondency and even bring on a stroke or a heart attack. Worry & anxiety are synonymous.

Here is what one wise man wrote: "It is not the care of today, but the cares of tomorrow that
weight a person down. For the needs of today we have corresponding strength given. For tomorrow, we are told to trust. It is not ours yet."

Ben Franklin once said: "Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may happen. Keep in the sunlight."

We borrow trouble when we torment ourselves with imaginary dangers or trials. On the other hand the individual who does not allow the thousand little worries of life to embitter them has full faith in God to put those worries to rest.

"Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?" Matt. 6:27

"Therefor do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the days own trouble be sufficient for the day. " Matt. 6:34

We should all remember that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which never happen.
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