I Can Be Proud

Mikhail and Dave were entering the parking lot. Mikhail’s parents had come to pick them up from school. Just then, a student whizzed passed in his new sedan. This was Roger who brought a new car. His father was known to be a wealthy businessman, something Roger was very proud of. If anything, Roger could live only for the pride that came with the dealings and interactions of Roger and his father with the who’s who of the rich and famous.

Dave said, “Mikhail, Look at Roger, so happy with his new sedan. It seems like he needs nothing more. Yesterday he was giving us a session on what all the sedan can do and what speed it clocked. Roger’s a real lucky guy. He has taken his friends for a ride today and Sasha has been speaking to him now. Everyone’s all over him.”

And Mikhail says, “Little things always make us feel good. It is in our nature and of this world to feel proud when I have something you don’t or to possess something rare and valuable. It gains us attention. We are in the spotlight and feel like a one minute celebrity. We have achieved something others can’t. People will look up to us with awe and often, only God is given that honor. We are treated as if we created a miracle, we are treated like demigods. Pride is wishing to be like God in our own way without explicitly desiring to compete with God.

I think the only time we can feel proud is when we are righteous in the eyes of God and have done his will. For everything else, we have to bow before God and Man, like Jesus did to the extent of washing people’s feet. Washing people’s feet in our world can mean doing thins we think is below our dignity whatever our sense of dignity is, whether we are bureaucrats, nurses, parents etc.

But there is only one dignity in God’s eyes: Children of God. We all can pick up a peel lying on the floor. If we can feel like and be the maid for a moment, perhaps we can stand before God, humble and contrite and God may not turn away his face. But who can claim righteousness before God when everything is his grace and we merely participate and attune our will to his good? I can be proud that every time I try, I make a choice. I merit that grace. I choose what I will be: In the spotlight before men or spotless before God. My pride lies in my choice