Be Ye Separate

Pride Goeth Before a Fall...or...Watch that first step, it's a doozy:P

   We’ve all heard the saying, “Pride goeth before a fall”. Have you ever thought about what that means? I asked several folks and each of them had a different answer, yet defined it the same. And all were wrong!

    To sum it all up, most folks think that the saying “Pride goeth before a fall” means that your pride is gone before you fall. That you’ve exhausted everything else and now you no longer have pride enough to keep from falling.

   The true meaning is just what it says, “Pride goeth before…” The fall itself is irrelevant! We can fall from many things but pride is singular and always precedes the fall. The more selfish the pride the farther the fall.

   I have had several days to ponder this particular saying and though I know what it means…I can’t help but seeing a true parallel here.

   What would cause Sister Lori to ponder such a thing, you may ask? Well, a FALL of course:P What fall? A flight of stairs! Yes, you read that right. I fell down a flight of stairs!

   It was on Wednesday night of this week. I had gone upstairs to put my pj’s on and decided to wear my favorite clogs that I wear all the time. They aren’t really anything special as far as clogs go, they are just plain cute. I like them because they are comfy and cuteJ CaraDD likes them too because they are “cute”J My daughters like them because they are “cute”. In fact, my girls talked me into them. I didn’t fight them too hard though:P I did need to justify purchasing them, however, since I don’t really want to have “stuff” that I don’t really need and I certainly don’t want things just because they are “cute”. I already lived that life and chose to move onJ

   Armed with my “cute” shoes on my feet, I took one step, then two, then, on the third step, my left foot flew out from under me, sent both my shoes flying off to different directions, what I had been holding in my hand was thrown in the opposite direction, and down I went. One bump after another, gaining speed as I descended…rapidly! I finally came to rest at the bottom of the stairs. Actually “came to rest” isn’t exactly correct. I actually ran into the wall at the base of the stairs and that’s what stopped me:P So, with my “pride” preceding me, I now lay in a gasping heap at the bottom of the stairs trying to catch my breath. Not knowing whether to cry or scream, or both. I chose gasping…at first, anyway:P Since I couldn’t get a breath in to cry OR scream, I just needed to BREATHE!

   I had held on to the rail with my right hand until my body wrenched my hand from it’s grip and each step, brought another thump of pain. My pride? It was with those shoes…somewhere.

   I spent all that night in agony. I couldn’t get a deep breath without causing sharp and constricting pains in my left side. (Still can’t, in fact, but that’s another post). I couldn’t sit on my left…um…cheek:s and I couldn’t rest my back even on the sofa as this only caused me more pain and didn’t help with the breathing at all.

   The next morning, hardly able to move, I went into the bathroom to get myself ready for the day and to check my poor aching self over to be sure I didn’t have any protruding bones, and I didn’t see a single bruise! How could I feel this pain without a bruise? Maybe I was making too much of it.

   I went for a short shopping trip for some much needed things and in the early evening while making a potty stop, I glanced in the mirror and oh my gracious me! Bruises! Not just black and blue but red, purple, blue, and many other colors too numerous to mention. One of the bruises, where I hit the riser, was as big as my daughters size 10 shoe!!! I now look like someone worked me over in a dark alley!:s

   My pride? I have none:P Well, I probably do but I will definitely think twice before letting my pride get puffed up like that again. This time it was just a staircase…maybe next time a cliff?

   Pride is one of those things that leaves us with our foot in our mouth. Just before we are taken down enough notches to be humbled, our pride will leap out in front of us and precede the disaster that will surely follow.

   Silly shoes. Yes I still like them. Yes they still function for what I need. No I will not prance down the stairs in them to show them off to anyone again. In fact, I think I’ll just keep my shoes in the closet and use them when I need them and ignore them when I don’t:P

   What prideful thing is trying to make it’s way to the front of your life? Are you in control of it? Or is it just waiting to “escort” you to the bottom of the stairs?:P

God be with thee~!

Sister Lori

uugghh!

{ 10:37, Wednesday, August 6, 2008 } { Posted by countrymouse }

(((HUGS))) Oh my dear Lord! Oh you poor thing.............I ached just reading this. :-( Yes, I knew you fell, but not the "perticulars". Brother Craig must have been very frightened and worried about you. Praying for a positive and speedy recovery.
Luv,
Carrie