2 stories

As told in Mark 10:35-52

Re: true pride and true desperation, the latter of which was described more fully in SK's "The Sickness Unto Death."

"Can you drink the cup I drink?"  said Jesus to James and John, the "Sons of Thunder."  This is an old Jewish expression meaning to share one's fate.  It is not recorded that either of these men were crucified--stabbed?--but Peter was crucified; and he was the one who said he was not worthy to be crucified!

It is surely prohibited to me to put myself on a humility pedestal.  In a recent book on Christian humility, a very evasive topic surely, by William Farley, he quotes C.S. Lewis as saying, "If you think you are not conceited, that means you are very conceited indeed."  That is, thinking one is humble immediately strays from the truth, and flies in the face of the fact that we are incurably self-centered untill the day we die, no matter what our convictions. In another paradigm, I suppose this has value as a survival mechanism and is seen in other sentient beings even more so.  We make attempts--often mighty and strenuous ones--to hide this socially unacceptable reality--but it is even more openly evident when hidden, because the great drops of sweat on our brows from this futile exercise simply draws more attention to the process.  "Be sure your sin will find you out."  "Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

Farley goes on to say that this is "...the great paradox: the proud man thinks he is humble, but the humble man thinks he is proud...he aggressively pursues a life of humility, but he doesn't think of himself as humble..." O for the bliss-blessed state of self forgetfulness which I find so rarely--but required for a Knight of Faith..."The proud man is completely unaware of his pride. Of all men he is convinced that he is humble."

Note that the majority of the applications and ongoing struggle  about this in our culture are well outside the realm of the traditional religious sphere in which context they were lodged for millenia.  We are in fact vastly more materialistic; and relativitistic--when it suits us, that is--to the bloody core.


It is quite common even among some of the most vaunted Christians and public servants to aspire to intellectual acceptance among those gifted--for better or worse--in this arena.  This is where most of my own guilt resides; indeed I would not be writing near so much on a blog if I were not out to "redeem" myself in the eyes of men.  Another part of me abhors this and says that redemption has already be accomplished and I of all people, can add nothing to it.

The blind son of Timaeus was not in such a dilemna; his sole concern was to see--hence he cast aside (in faith) the most important thing a blind beggar can possess--his cloak...trusting that he would be able to find it, no problem, when he went back.  Yet in another sense, he did not go back--simple gratitude led him to follow Christ on down the road.

Jesus summed it up between these two obviously paired reports when he said: "Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great ("forcibly advance?") must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom to many." (Losing far more than his cloak in the process...)