Arrogance

I like to amuse myself. Sometimes I just think funny things and laugh.

For example, the other day I was driving down State Route 41 in Troy, Ohio with my wife in the car and there was very little traffic. There was only one other car within a few hundred yards, and I thought, and said to my wife, with absolutely no reason, “Look at that guy! He thinks he’s all that. Driving like he owns this town.”  Of course my wife looked at me as if I was crazy. There was nothing different about the way the man was driving – and I was actually making a joke about how sometimes we judge others with little or no reason.

So, why am I telling you? No reason except it came to mind as I wrote the title at the top of the page.

Arrogance: an insulting way of thinking or behaving that comes from believing that you are better, smarter, or more important than other people.  _{Merriam Webster}

“We don’t know a millionth of one percent of anything”, said Thomas Edison. If Edison is right, why do the formally educated think holding a minuscule amount data in their heads gives them superiority as a human being? In the process of learning we gain confidence, but an attitude seems to develop instantly for many young folk when they get a degree. Do they think that a degree is a testament to having greater value by knowing something that someone else may not?

When my kids were still young children, they had a play friend who was about three or four years old. For some time this little girl had a standard response whenever she lost in a game, or when she was corrected, or when she was envious of someone for what they had.  It was quite funny, and my adult kids still to this day recall it when someone brags about something – and they mockingly say what she said.  “So, I got more Teddy Bears than you!”

We are not arrogant for what we think we know and we can be arrogant by thinking our possessions add value to our worth.  

A canal tow path along the Miami Erie Canal near New Bremen, Ohio.

Rank also has its privilege but does give us the right to be arrogant and treat others unfairly or with disrespect who are at a lower pay grade?

Of course, our physical self can be a source of arrogance.  If we are healthier than someone, better looking with a more attractive physique, we can feel that we are better than someone that is overweight, homely, and/or has chronic health conditions.

Age should bring wisdom, and the more we know, the more we should realize we don’t know. Regardless, some of us feel that because we are older and wiser, we can be less considerate of others’ feelings and just say what is on our minds. “How did I become an arrogant old man?  I was an arrogant young man; I just had other things to be arrogant about (when I was younger, better looking, and had better health).”

The reality is, no matter how smart or wise or how wealthy we are, or how beautiful we may be, arrogance makes us ugly. If I were to go to the mirror and instead of seeing the way I appear physically, I saw the reflection of my humility (beauty) or my arrogance (ugliness); I think I would see that there are changes to be made. I can only hope that I wouldn't faint from the shock.

Can we be arrogant and truly be following the example of Jesus Christ?

Here is what He says. But Jesus called for them, saying, "Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷"Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child (with humility) will not enter it at all." _{Luke 18: 16-17}