Regarding Pete Hegseth : Pride goeth before destruction

 

 

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

—Proverbs 16:18

"The Grand Faux Pas"

... It can be observed that when it comes to addiction, a contributing element within the addicted is that of pride infesting their being overtly. Not only was pride the originator to the problem, but it is also given further exaggeration because of the addiction. It is the being of Pride manifesting in the fellow, there at the very base root of the compulsion.

Watching the drug addict or the alcoholic, you will find that although they may appear to have problems quite obvious on the outside, it is not apparent enough to themselves, in that they are so prideful that their attitude of self is very demanding. Characterized by acting out kingly or queenly imaginings of superiority, these poor folk are so deeply infested with this pride, that their very doors to self-improvement are completely blocked by it. 

After death, the astrality of a person who has died because of their addiction will still maintain their arrogance and supposition of superiority. Even when the body has long decayed and the ghost is naught more than a mumble, it will not concede that their 'superior' self was actually wrong in choosing the path that it took. 

Simply and humbly wrong. This statement is a very healthy beginning to making change within the poor form which exudes addiction. It is a fine statement, but often overlooked for the more preferred and protracted statements of excuse or whimsical reason, which just color the story and adds more to the pride than to the reality of change that we seek.

We say this in kindness, to urge one to carefully prise apart the story of one's life in a way that is candid, and not more of the same. It is dangerous for a man to believe he was ever a 'good gambler' (an oxymoron in itself in regards to a game of chance) or that their spiritual journey was in any way improved because of the internment given to some narcotic stupor. If addiction is to end, it is to end. The very thoughts which praise it are continuing to it and therefore hazardous in the extreme.

Saying ultimately that we have been completely mistaken, completely wrong about something we have done, about who we have chosen to be and become, is the one and only way we can change. If you have pride infiltrating your recall of that past person, if you have one particle of self-congratulation where it is not due, then you will find it impossible to throw off those characteristics that contribute also to the very clear review needed for ongoing assessment down the track. 

Here we can find one of the blessings of old age. Many dear people are thoroughly prepared to pass into the spiritual worlds and become anew, after they have lost their sense of pride, competitiveness and superiority. For those who depart their lives still in this bind, it does clearly travel into the subsequent life and manifest very obviously. 

Pride is not to be confused with an egoic strength. The individual who is strong in their selfhood knows that our true being lives in the future and that we must make ourselves daily into what we are. We can hope and pray that our Father will be proud of us, but even in this, it is something which is not merely a given, but a striven; and that our own true holy splendor is shared with the family of Man, so that every step to self-betterment brings glory to all as well as ourselves....

Source: Esoteric Christianity