Wednesday's Word ~ Pride

Wednesday's word will be a regular installment on this blog when I feel led to share a word study. I arrived at today's word in a roundabout way. I was watching a video titled SUNSTONES, DEATH MASKS, & other Historical Coverups w/ guest expert, John Hajicek because they were going to be talking about Joseph Smith's death mask made by my 3rd great-grandfather George Cannon.

This photo showed me the chain of ownership that I never knew before. Just now I found out through a written history that my 3 times great-grandfather George Cannon also made the coffins for Joseph and Hyrum Smith. 

In Mormon circles, the Cannon name is like that of a Hollywood actor or something, especially in the Bear Lake County, Idaho area fifty years ago. I mean someone fudged our genealogy to look like George Q. Cannon was a direct ancestor and he's actually my 2nd great-grandmother's half brother.🤦

Anyway, I'm watching the video, and when they mentioned my ancestor's name I started to feel this little sensation like...umm..dare I say, PRIDE? Then I got this check in my spirit and the Holy Spirit brought some things to my mind that I wasn't even aware of and had to repent. As much as I dislike Joseph Smith and what he stood for, the Holy Spirit showed me that I was still throwing the Cannon name around to any Mormon I ran into like I was announcing that some of my family was part of the inner circle of Joseph Smith like that was something to be proud of! I asked myself and Holy Spirit - what in the world? Why would I do that? All I heard was "PRIDE"

The last time the relief society ladies were at my house I told them that I wasn't interested, but at the same time I told them that I was related to George Q. Cannon! 

I feel that the Cannon family was a pretty proud bunch. During the many years that I have been doing genealogy and family history research, I couldn't help but feel that all the children from Grandpa Cannon's first marriage and their posterity thought they were better than my great-grandma Elizabeth Cannon Piggott, the daughter of the second wife. 

The following image is an excerpt from a little pamphlet that they made for a family reunion in 1957:

So it just seems to me that they are a proud bunch!

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom - Proverbs 11:2

For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” - Mark 7:21-23

Pride is a sneaky thing. It sneaks in when you least expect it. Heck, I was only aware of some of the meanings it has.  I have found a website with a pretty good write-up listing 41 signs of pride and I will leave a link here.

Here are some of the definitions that he lists:

• Pride is being SELF-ish
• Thinking excessively about SELF
• Pride’s base is too much SELF-love
• Thinking the worth of our SELF is higher than it actually is
• SELF-worship
• Preoccupation with our image or SELF
• Pride is narcissism (in love with our image or SELF)
• Pride is SELF-centered or EGO-centric (everything revolves around us)
• Pride wants to keep the focus on SELF
• SELF-ness

Remember that pride comes before destruction. Shalom