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Some notes on remaining humble, by Marine in Missouri
One of the many great lessons I have read over and over in this blog is that practice makes perfect. This can apply to any skill set one wishes to consider. I would like to stress the word “read” in the last sentence; reading does not equate to learning, and often in our human hubris we decide that if we think about it, we know it. I think one of the most potent sins the father of lies enjoys tempting us with is the sin of pride. Without going on a diatribe of theological concepts on pride (and I’ve heard many great sermons on it), I would like to use some personal examples to maybe give a glimpse of how pride can creep into any portion of life, including the pursuit of preparation for calamity.
I typically think of myself as being pretty capable of surviving a situation if I am presented with one. I grew up on a 400-acre dairy farm and realize how to work hard. I have a concept of what it takes to grow things and how much work really goes into making the food we eat. I have been in the Marines for the past 16 years, and I have two combat deployments where I was the Watch Chief and Watch Officer in the combat operations center (although I have not personally been in combat). I am a CBRN defense specialist, so I realize what it would take to deal with a catastrophe of that nature; I had better have a grasp, since I instruct the stuff for a living in the Marines! I have also been a Combat Marksmanship Instructor for a decade, teaching and coaching hundreds of Marines on basic Marksmanship, with a few opportunities to instruct more advanced marksmanship classes. With this background, I should have the ability to take care of any situation, whether it’s growing food, protecting my family from any threat, or generally speaking surviving and thriving in any environment my family and I are faced with.
In reality, however, I often times find my book knowledge combined with the experience I have giving me a false sense of ability. This is where all of that talk about the sin of pride comes into play. In our culture as a whole (and yes, in some aspects in the military in specific), we tend to look at past accomplishments as a check in the box. Perhaps thoughts may cross your mind, like it does mine from time to time, that are similar to “I have done this before; I know what I’m doing; it will be no problem.” I would like to suggest to you this is dangerous; it is something we all need to fight against, especially those of us who think in our mind we have a reason to believe we are more prepared than we truly are. I would like to provide some examples I have run up against in my life and that I am actively working on improving.
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