A doctor, a lawyer, a little boy, and a priest were out for a Sunday afternoon flight on a small private plane. Suddenly, the plane developed engine trouble.
In spite of the best efforts of the pilot, the plane started to go down. Finally, the pilot grabbed a parachute, yelled to the passengers that they had better jump, and bailed out.
Unfortunately, there were only three parachutes remaining.
The doctor grabbed one and said, “I’m a doctor; I save lives, so I must live,” and jumped out.
The lawyer then said, “I’m a lawyer and lawyers are the smartest people in the world. I deserve to live.”
He also grabbed a parachute and jumped.
The priest looked at the little boy and said, “My son, I’ve lived a long and full life. You are young and have your whole life ahead of you. Take the last parachute and live in peace.”
The little boy handed the parachute back to the priest and said, “Not to worry, Father. The ‘smartest man in the world’ just took off with my back pack.”
We can make some very serious errors when we overestimate ourselves and underestimate others. “You’re So Vain” is a song written in 1971 by Carly Simon and released in November 1972. My belief is that it hits this nail right on the head. Vanity can be a killer.
The smartest man in the world had this to say about human understanding as it relates to this world.
Ecclesiastes 1:6
The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
If we can’t figure out the wind, how are we doing with the weightier matters of life?
Give it some thought and turn the pages of some ancient information on the subject of wisdom.
Gary