Issue 663 – Tail Up Charlie – February 22, 2022

When I was in my early teens, my family lived in a remote community in northern Alberta. I  took up the sport of running and racing sled dogs.

We didn’t have the money for a fancy racing sled, so my father took an old toboggan and modified it into a very functional sleigh that the dogs could pull, and I could stand on and ride. It was quite an ingenious design and had the advantage of being collapsable for storage and transport.

Dog sled races can take varying formats, and my first race was a gang-start. Rather than a timed course, everyone starts simultaneously, and the first one to complete the course wins.

From the moment of the start, I was clearly in the lead. No one was even close. I hit a bump, and my sleigh collapsed. Still, I managed to keep my lead and ride it out by laying on the toboggan. Not dignified but functional.

Several hundred yards from the finish line, I maintained a promising lead, and it was there that my ego overtook me. There was no way that I was going to cross the line lying down. If you can picture a surfer, that was me. I stood on the sled, proud and balanced, way ahead of everyone else.

As you have already guessed, that didn’t go well. The rig hit a bump, and I fell off. The dogs completed the course without me. Every other rig passed me as I dusted myself off and limped towards the finish.

Instead of finishing first, I was the last one across the line. The dogs were first by a considerable margin, but we weren’t finished until I crossed the line.

My reward was a hurricane lamp like the photo, the “Tail Up Charlie Award” given to the last-place finisher. The lantern was so the slowest competitor could find their way home after the race.

That day was one of many where my pride caused me to stumble somehow.

Pride is a dangerous thing, and the Bible warns us repeatedly against it.

Hear and give ear; be not proud, for the LORD has spoken. Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness. Jeremiah 13:15-16

The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. Proverbs 8:13

The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. Proverbs 16:18

Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10:12

The Scriptures are full of accounts of the folly of pride. It was pride that caused Adam and Eve to question God’s truthfulness in the Garden. Pride caused Satan to fall from grace.

Looking back over my life, I am astounded at the problems caused by my ego and pride. Some of my most incredible falls have been a direct result of a lack of humility on my part. I suspect that is true for most people.

My dear friends, let’s check our egos at the door and walk in humble submission to God. 

Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

Be blessed. 

Kevin.

Gleanings From The Word.

Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. 

Soli Deo Gloria (for the glory of God alone.)

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All contents are © 2001, 2022 K. F. “Kevin” Corbin and Gleanings From The Word.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the English Standard Version (ESV). Spelling modified to Canadian English as required. 

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