Pride

The story is told about a CEO of a fortune 500 company who pulled into a service station to get gas.  He went inside to pay, and when he came out he noticed his wife was talking with the service station attendant. She had dated the attendant before she met her husband.

The CEO got in the car, and the two drove in silence. He was feeling pretty good about himself when he finally spoke: “I bet I know what you were thinking. I bet you were thinking you’re glad you married me, a Fortune 500 CEO, and not him, a service station attendant.”

Golfer, Arnold Palmer related, “It was the final hole of the 1961 Masters tournament, and I had a one-stroke lead and had just hit a very satisfying tee shot. I felt I was in pretty good shape. As I approached my ball, I saw an old friend standing at the edge of the gallery. He motioned me over, stuck out his hand and said, ‘Congratulations.’ I took his hand and shook it, but as soon as I did, I knew I had lost my focus. On my next two shots I hit the ball into a sand trap, then put it over the edge of the green. I missed a putt and lost the Masters.

After two weeks of Pre-K, Linda Wilbanks’ 5-year-old grandson came home with a mighty big compliment. Nick told his grandmother that he was the smartest kid in the class. With a deep sense of pride, Linda asked him if that was what his teacher said. Nick replied, “No ma’am. I had to tell her.”

Source: Mature Living, April, 2007

Tancredo Neves ran for the presidency of Brazil in the 1980s. He boldly declared that if he got 500,000 votes from his own party, not even God could keep him from being president. He won the election, but one day later he got sick and died. There is no way to know if God accepted his challenge, but what we can know for sure is that human beings should not make such bold, arrogant statements.

Source: Unknown

Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College

The captain of a ship looked into the dark night and saw a light in the distance. Immediately he told his signalman to send a message, “Alter your course ten degrees south.” He promptly received a reply, “Alter your course ten degrees north.”

The furious captain sent another message, “Alter your course ten degrees south. I am a captain!” Soon another reply was received, “Alter your course ten degrees north. I am seaman third class Jones.”

In the summer of 1986, two ships collided in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia. Hundreds of passengers died as they were hurled into the icy waters below. News of the disaster was further darkened when an investigation revealed the cause of the accident. It wasn’t a technology problem like radar malfunction or even thick fog. The cause was human stubbornness. Each captain was aware of the other ship’s presence nearby. Both could have steered clear, but according to news reports, neither captain wanted to give way to the other. Each was too proud to yield first.

A young man who had been hired by the personnel department of a large supermarket chain reported to work at one of the stores. The manager greeted him with a warm handshake and a smile, handed him a broom and said, “Your first job will be to sweep out the store.”

“But,” the young man said, “I’m a college graduate.”

“I’m sorry,” the manager said, “I didn’t know that. Here, give me the broom and I’ll show you how.”

Source: Unknown