14. Pride Before the Fall
A little ways back my priest made reference to the phrase “pride before the fall”. My wife asked me if I thought that our country is in this same category? I believe the US is in the category of “pride before the fall” however it was not for the reason she thought. I still think we are a light on the hill and a beacon of hope, or at least we were when our founders put their thoughts into actions and the founding of this great nation.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed”
This is awesome. We, all of us have unalienable rights. Rights that cannot be taken away. The founders knew this. These rights do not come from the President, politicians or any of the governing powers but from GOD. That being said, they still mention that the people institute power to the governing. The politicians as well as the common citizens have these rights.
I think the pride of the nation comes from those in power. They have lost the duty to stand for those rights of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The current state of affairs leads to death in ways of abortions, rights being stripped away (being held indefinitely, spying, data collection so on and so on) and people’s ability to pursue happiness is being stripped by the government coming in saying in all essence “ you can’t do anything without our help”. The leaders are approaching things as if they are enlightened and so important. That is where the “pride” lies. We are the greatest nation on earth and most charitable nation in the history of the world. Our leaders have lost the foundation put by our founding fathers….GOD!
I was reading through James and 3:13-18 stood out as being a thread to this topic. James is actually reluctant to give advice for he warns against council being brought forth through pride. He warns against self centeredness. Does this not describe our leaders? Not all of them but the vast majority of them. “Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom” v13. I don’t see much meekness in our government at all. Everyone thinks that they have the answer to everything. They continue saying everyone needs to be tolerant of everything, yet you are intolerant if you hold your own thoughts or dare I say practice “liberty”.
“But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above but is earthly, sensual, demonic.” This describes our politicans to the letter. Everything is done on a whim. Things are based on relative truth, the decibels of the people “outraged” over something, or the next political calculation. Things are completely earthly and sensual and possibly demonic as stated in the passage. Things that are not of God very well may be Demonic but things are certainly earthly and completely selfish and sensual based on the passing fad.
James speaks of the evil of the self serving things but then speaks of the goodness that comes from God. “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy”. Our leaders are incredibly hypocritical. Almost everything that is said from our current President is counted by his own words when speaking to a different crowd in a different context. This is true of other leaders as well. At the same time we are completely lacking in good fruits or mercy. Things that are being said are dividing us along gender and race lines when in fact it only serves certain people’s interests.
Our nation’s pride comes from the hypocritical, self centered politicians, that have lost the focus on God. We need to combat this by strengthening our homes and families and remember that God is not on our side, but rather, God just IS, therefore we must follow HIM. He is everlasting and constant. We need to correct course and get things back in order! God is not on our side or anyone’s side, but rather we must be on His side.
Mark
Orthodox Dad in America
orthodoxdadinamerica 