Pride

Recently The Wall Street Journal carried a story from the small town of Erwin, Tennessee. The local state representative had sponsored several bills and was responsible for naming 23 bridges in the region. At first he named them for local heroes. Then he named some for prominent citizens. Then he names some for his friends. Every bridge has a name. When someone asked long time U.S. Congressman James H. Quillen if he had noticed all those green signs he said no but he had noticed the sign on Interstate 181 naming it in his honor - the James H. Quillen Parkway! His candor is to be appreciated. And it's quite natural that we notice things that bear our name in fact, no letters in print ever look better to anyone than his own name. That kind of pride is understandable and excusable. There is another kind of pride that is dangerous and often the root of evil.

-Robert Shannon, Preaching March/April 1998