Articles
Female Wild Turkey
"The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,
and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day." - Isa. 2:11
While watching some female wild turkeys searching for food on our property, my attention was drawn to this male who came into view strutting and displaying his tail feathers while parading back and forth in front of the females. He must have been very proud of his appearance because he made every effort to look as impressive as he could by inflating his actual size. And, at least for turkeys, such pompous boasting works. Females are attracted, mating is accomplished, and young poults are produced. I don't know if turkeys actually feel pride, or if they are just responding to some innate instinct, but I do know humans are no strangers to pride and we exhibit it in various ways to draw attention to ourselves. We don't use feathers, but we do use clothing, cosmetics, occupation, education, or even the homes we own or the cars we drive. Pride is a vice which underlies other vices. We really do not take pride in our appearance or our talents or our acquisitions, we take pride in looking superior to the appearances or the talents or the acquisitions of others. If everyone was equal in those things, there would be no pride. What we want is to appear to be better, and so we resort to lesser vices to feel superior. Pride is essentially competitive. And, if anyone says they are not proud, they have just added the vice of lying to that of pride. A central battle in the life of a Christian is the fight against pride. The trait that conquers pride is the cultivation of humility, a trait sadly lacking in most of us. Male turkeys strut and display because that is how they were created. Christians were created to be just the opposite. - John
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