Big Men and Breakfast

[SamRoss]

I just finished breakfast at this swanky hotel (THE Congress Plaza on Michigan Ave).  The room was filled with older, white men attending various conventions.  Men at the table next to me talked about family and kids and kids getting married.  What struck me was the jockeying, the almost palpable ego in the room.  As if the unspoken question was, "How important are you? I am very important.   Way more important than anyone else in the room.  And talented too.  Beyond normal.  Above."  Being one of two women and probably the only one without a business reason to be here, I was free from it. 

But I wonder if I would engage in that silent battle now?  When I was working (and especially when I was single), I felt the need to posture, prove myself, etc.  But now I'm a Christ-follower - he defines me, he gives me identity and worth.  There's not a person alive that can mess with who he's called me to be.  Oh, sure, I can get sidetracked and depressed and start believeing my own press that I'm ugly or untalented or unworthy.  Truth will come back like a gentle breeze; the next thing you know, your eyes are closed and the there's a sweet fragrance in the air.  Then you KNOW its all good.  Precious moments.

Anyway, the other half of my revelation with the power breakfast crowd was that I have a husband who was in this very dining room not too long ago.  Knowing him, I doubt he jockeyed for anything but coffee.  He loves God and people and has been around long enough to know men don't define him.  He needs not compete for the love of man when he has the love of God (and his wife!). I'm so proud of him.  I just wanted him to know he does not need to play the game.  He can sit out, relax, have a cup of java and be secure in all that he is - a smart, wonderful, funny man who is loved.

What a man desires is unfailing love ; better to be poor than a liar.
Proverbs 19:22