When I was a child, I loved the comic strips on Sundays. They were always so special because they were in color, instead of weekday black and white. Some of my favorites were Dennis the Menace, Dagwood, Peanuts, and Family Circle. As I grew older I stopped reading comics altogether.
I was thinking about what comic strip character I could most identify with today. I could often identify with Blondie, even though I'm not a blonde nor ever have been. She was a woman who worked things out to the best advantage with Dagwood--but her penchant for shopping is just not me. I liked Wilma, too, from the Flintstones; she never let Fred get away with a thing. But my husband is so far from being a Fred, that I simply couldn't see myself as Wilma. I particularly liked Mrs. Wilson from Dennis the Menace. She was always so kind.
But one person I've never liked to identify with is Lucy. Charlie Brown is one of the most endearing characters in all of comic-land. He is real. He epitomizes the inferiority of us all, the life we've all endured at the hands of someone at sometime in our lives. Always left out, always belittled, always seen as the loser. Charlie seems to fail at everything he does, nothing ever turns out right. Even his dog, Snoopy, gets the better of him. But Charlie is steadfast, he is likeable. He is one person who survives through it all; he perseveres. His friend Lucy treats Charlie horribly. Lucy, to me, epitomizes callous, indifferent smugness. She has an air of piety that invades the strip each time she walks across a box. She's selfish, crotchety and downright mean.
Has Charlie ever tried to get even? Has he ever been hateful? Has he retaliated? Has he trashed anyone? Pointed out another's failures? I can't recall if he has.
So, I'm thinking. When a person thinks less of himself than others, he sees less need to fight or prove he is better than others or smarter than others. Wouldn't a person like that be more open to another's opinions than forcing his own opinion upon others?
Now, I know a psychologist would have a fieldday with the self-esteem factor in my thinking right now. Many people say that people who do harm to others have a low opinion of themselves. I don't agree. I think people who do harm to others think they are better than others. I think they assume, like Lucy, they have all the answers. I think they don't even recognize how very proud they are, how pious they are, or how arrogant they are. In fact, I think people who find it their sole purpose in life to point out other's flaws and faults are the very people who need to examine themselves in the light of the Lord.
"...but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself." Philippians 2:3b
What do you think? Do you think the pride we have in ourselves, our accomplishments, our education, our experiences, our resumes, our positions and opinions entitle us to think of ourselves more highly than another? just wondering...selahV
[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2007]
