Then the lion said — but I don’t know if it spoke — You will have to let me undress you. I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it. “The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was jut the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. You know — if you’ve ever picked the scab of a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away.” “I know exactly what you mean,” said Edmund. “Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off – just as I thought I’d done it myself the other three times, only they hadn’t hurt – and there it was lying on the grass, only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the others had been. And there was I smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me – I didn’t like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I’d no skin on — and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I’d turned into a boy again. . . .”
~CS Lewis, in The Voyage of The Dawn Treader.
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
~ The fall of The Satan, in Isaiah 14
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a bond-servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
~ The exaltation of Jesus, The King of The Universe, in Philippians 2
Oh beloved, it is true. There is a part of us that is deadly. Our pride. This “I” in the middle of me, that will not – ever – let go of what it wants. And the danger of our pride is that it is more dangerous than nuclear waste, and yet (because of our pride) we are unable to recognize it.
We will not
shall not
can not
won’t
just ain’t gonna do it
give in.
And, in fact, I would love for you to love me and worship me while I crush you.
This fool of a writer lives in an Asian megacity where some of the rich come from a culture that worships the idea of becoming a dragon. Dragons devour every opportunity. And a dragon never serves. Further, dragons never ever, ever, ever admit they are wrong.
And to live in a place like this is not only inconvenient, it is dangerous. For the ruling socio-economic class might even demand that you come to work on a day when nobody else can get there due to floods – even if it puts your life at risk. And you better just happily do it, because your job will be in jeopardy otherwise.
The weirdness of bald-faced pride like this is that it actually serves no end. No economic gain. No momentum built. Nothing fixed or changed or made better… Just a fulfillment of a prideful wish and some sort of satisfaction from making people move, just because the person gave an order.
But, as is normally the case, one can learn from weird situations and learn deep truth if we are willing. In watching people live out an overtly prideful existence, we can see the reality of The Satan’s fall. This one wanted nothing other than to be like The Most High. But, in trying to do this, he missed the point of what being The Most High is altogether.
Can we see it? The Satan thought The Most High was a position. He seems to have misunderstood that the position was real, but the deeper (read infinite) reality was that The Most High, was The Most High because of who He was, is, and is to come: A Person made of serving and self-sacrificing Love. And in missing the point, this Day Star fell. And so will any of us that continue along the same path of thought and action.
However, we can also clearly see the other side of this equation. The very G_d of the universe, emptied Himself to nearly nothing in Love for us. But the strength of this emptying was that it mirrored the heart of the Father who sent Him to do it. Instead of trying to tear down, or usurp, Jesus amplified the very most powerful force in the universe through His example.
This amplification was so great that in launched Him into a position in all History that is completely unrivalled. He is now exalted (if possible) even Higher than where He started. Oh, it is not that He is more infinite. No, rather, in taking on Humanity, He became the very object of His Love that He might then lead all of captive humanity free from the maniacal rantings of this fallen one.
So, are you battling pride in your life? Perhaps tonight would be the best time for you to realize that life is not about position, or acceptance, or winning. Life is about a Person who is already in a position of infinite strength, Who already accepts you, and has already won. Tonight is your night beloved. Time to look to Him, and let Him lift you up.
