My mother used to say, “Don’t think too highly of yourself or one day you’ll be eating humble pie.” I understood what she was saying, but I didn’t get the “humble pie” part until much later.

 

‘UMBLE PIE’

“In the 17th century, Lords of the Manor often held elaborate hunting expeditions. They would camp out in the open, complete with moving kitchens, dressing rooms, and libraries. The tents that followed were magnificent and it was not unusual for the aristocracy of Great Britain to have dozens of guests, musicians, and many servants along with them. After they successfully shot and killed a number of deer, the expedition would turn into a festival of merrymaking with plenty to eat and drink.

 

“The servants, however, never got any venison to eat. Although they did all the work, the rich ate the venison. The servants were given the remaining organs of the deer, known as humbles, from which they created their own meal. Often the humbles, also called umbles, were cleaned, prepared, and then, along with vegetables and fruit, covered in dough and baked. It would come out looking very much like a pie. The servants referred to this special meal as ‘umble pie.’”

[1] So now you know.

 

AN EGOTISTICAL HUSBAND (really? is that even be possible?)

Someone sent me this tale about a woman married to an egotistical husband who never stopped talking about himself. He knew he was better than anyone and it was hard to keep this ‘knowing’ to himself. She tried everything to put an end to it, but to no avail. He was first in sales, first up for the next promotion, and enjoyed tennis and golf when he came in first.

 

On a visit to the State Fair, the man’s long-suffering wife watched with interest as he stepped up onto one of the fortune telling scales describing who you are and giving your weight. He dropped a coin in the slot and lights whirled as the dial on the scales moved back and forth. Finally, it stopped and out came a little card which read, “You are a born leader, with superior intelligence, quick wit, and a charming personality. All this makes you most attractive to the opposite sex.” The man handed the card to his wife triumphantly and said, “Ha, read that!” She did. Then she turned the card over and said, “They got your weight wrong too.”[2]

 

Perhaps Saint Augustine sums it up best of all with “If you should ask me what are the ways of God, I would tell you that the first is humility, the second is humility, and the third is humility. Not that there are no other precepts to give, but if humility does not precede all that we do, our efforts are fruitless.”[3]

 

Perspective is sometimes everything, isn’t it?

 

Blessings in Christ,

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] http://www.wordorigins.org/humblepie.

[2] Michael Hodgin, 1001 More Humorous Illustrations (Zondervan, 1998), p. 263.

[3] Augustine in Confessions