I'm reading a book called Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis. Most likely you've heard of it. If you are Tim, then you apparently have it on tape.
Don't be dismayed by the title if you do not consider yourself Christian. This book takes as much of a scientific approach as possible to understanding the role of God, or even if there is a God.
You all know where I stand on this issue.
But I won't go into the whole "Let me prove to you that there is a God..."
Instead, I want to focus on one chapter that really touched me. That chapter is on Pride. Lewis calls it "The Great Sin," and I agree with that assessment. He argues that all other sins (or faults, if you will) stem from Pride, and he makes a great case for it.
Some quotes that struck me:
"There is one vice of which no man is free...and the more we have it in ourselves, the more we dislike it in others. The vice I am talking about is Pride..."
"If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed."
"In fact, if you want to find out how proud you are the easiest way is to ask yourself, 'How much do I dislike it when other people snub me, or refuse to take any notice of me, or shove their oar in, or patronise me, or show off?' The point is that each person's pride is in competition with everyone else's pride."
I am guilty of all of this. Especially calling someone else out when I believe they are being prideful. After reading these quotes I'm forced to ask myself, "But how prideful am I for even daring to call someone else prideful?"
By pointing out someone else's pride, I am, in fact, participating in the very fault that I was condemning that person for.
Whoa, that's deep.
That is why I love books like this and revelations like this; it is a moment in time when I forced to look within and ask myself if I am living up to the person I want to be. Before being critical of others, we should be critical of ourselves.
hmmm ... looks like i'm a sinner baby!
ReplyDeleteits good to find something that helps you understand or reinforce your beliefs. i've read this before. the argument, not the book. the one problem i have with it is that its part of the 7 deadlies which don't appear (unless you pull them separately from different passages, different books) in the bible. it probably doesn't help that i'm not a big lewis fan as his views often come into conflict with the grace and grace alone concept. but that's just me, i'm a different breed of cat. :)
well, I think Lewis makes it clear on the idea that our works cannot get us into heaven...
ReplyDeletesimply, I'm striving to treat others like I want to be treated. If I don't like seeing pride, then I also should try not to show it.
But I respect you not liking C.S. Lewis, he is an acquired taste...and well, aren't we all sinners? haha. And so we try, try again, because we are human.
This is an example of me trying.
There is a movie you should watch (yes, add it to the list of movies I've recommended) called "Red", about a man who has his dog shot by some young thieves; he decides to find justice for his murdered animal. There is alot of pride working in the movie, especially towards the end. It stars Brian Cox, who I've always thought was a great actor, and he makes this character very compelling as an honest man who wants an apology for what was done. The movie works on alot of levels, and is equally surprising and touching, although a bit too preachy towards the end. I only mention this movie because I haven't read "Mere Christianity" and the movie relates to themes of not-so-obvious pridefulness and someone's personal sense of justice.
ReplyDeleteoh I love it!!! I am gonna have to go look for this! I like how you think... amazon, here I come!
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of how my attempts to stop reading books about religion only begets more reading books about religion.
ReplyDeletebelieve it our not, that was originally intended to be a more supportive comment than what came out ha. a little sidetracked. got to learn not to comment while working. whoops. :)
ReplyDeleteLewis, a good Christian Irish fella, albeit a protty. But I like what he's pushing, that whole love your neighbor as you would yourself type of thing, something this world sorely needs, more and more each day.
ReplyDelete