PRIDE TAKES A FALL

 I am currently reading a book recommended by a dear friend with the word "Never" in the title.  That same word is found throughout the text of the book and, of course, this set me to thinking.  One of my favorite phrases is "Never say never " and I added to that famous phrase "I've eaten every never I ever said"  

We often speak of having to "Eat Crow".  Exactly what does this mean?  The Great Google told me this,

"Eating crow is a colloquial idiom, used in English-speaking countries, that means humiliation by admitting been proven wrong after taking a strong position.  The crow is a carrion-eater that is presumably repulsive to eat in the same way that being proven wrong might be emotionally hard to swallow."  (Your welcome for today's lesson in the complexities of idioms.)

Most often when I used this idiom I was referring to my children.  I definitely had to swallow my pride many a time over stating my children would NEVER (as I am certain my mother also did).  Those same children seemed to take this as a challenge to prove me wrong.  I definitely ate crow over every never I uttered.  And then there is that idiom "Pride Takes A Fall".  My pride not only took a fall but fell flat on its face in a crow pie.

While once again walking through the Old Testament, I take some comfort in the fact that I am not the first one to be served a Humble Pie by their children.  OH YES, this all circles back around to expectations---we've been there before.  HERE is the bottom line, Friends, NEVER SAY NEVER.  It can turn around and bite you in your rear before you have had time to blink.  It seems the word is predestined to bring us a healthy dose of regret.  Regret for opening our big mouths and using that word which is like engraving a statement in granite.  When will we learn---all men are fallen--we live in a fallen world---and we have NO control over anyone but ourselves?  

Do you read a book and take a nosedive into theology?  This book is a mystery--and my head is a greater mystery.

"First pride,

then the crash---

the bigger the ego,

the harder the fall."

Proverbs 16:18 MSG