Heights

Ego and confidence are dangerous friends.  Without both it is hard to function.  Yet both can lead one to the edge of self destruction.  It isn’t automatic but it is far more common than anyone readily admits.  It is often first seen in a person’s swagger.  You can find it in a walk, a look, and even in a simple gesture.  In the journey in and through New York the range of types, styles, and approaches found with different types of egos is truly incredible.  Metaphorically you find people walking above the rest of us.  Confidence flows from everywhere!  Superiority is taken as a given, as if there is an expectation that we should be taking the time to acknowledge the presence we find ourselves in.  Conversations reflect the different in attitude.  Some find themselves disadvantaged because they see themselves on equal footing as those around them.
 
I fully acknowledge the value of having a strong ego and level of confidence.  It is required to survive.  Excess amount are key to getting ahead.  Yet the danger is there.  When one teeters on the edge and falls, the vultures come out of the woodwork.  It is as if we have a new name and their analysis goes something like this; “What a comedown this, O Babylon!  Daystar! Son of Dawn!  Flat on your face in the underworld mud, you, famous for flattening nations!” (Isaiah 14.12) 
 
The problem is not in the fact that we have an ego which leads us to being confident.  Rather the problem lies, I believe, in the underlying foundation we use to stand tall in this world.  Is our foundation based on personal work, actions, or lineage?  If so we are doomed to failure.  It is hard to image that we have been singled out as beings with a extraordinary worth.  God said you and I are worth more than anything else in the universe.  We are priceless.  This is the foundation on which we stand.  The key rests on a simple fact; our confidence isn’t because of “I”, it is all God.