Pride Cometh Before A Fall

Last week I was very busy putting together a power point presentation. I had to make a presentation about poverty, human trafficking, slums, the Persecuted Church and other global issues. I was really excited about it, as it is something that I have already been thinking about quite a bit recently. I set to work with a lot of enthusiasm.

I collected a lot of pictures from the Internet, got my sister to show me some power point basics, found a number of quotes and Bible verses to get people thinking and got to work.

I spent hours - literally hours - working on this presentation. I didn't just want to do a good job, I really wanted it to make an impact on people - to get them thinking about people outside their own country, to get them praying, to get them doing something.

Every spare minute I had I was pouring over the computer, tweaking this picture and that picture, re-arranging the pages, selecting the right font, choosing a background color. I rotated pictures, dragged them in and out of the pages, enlarged them and shrunk them. I spent ages deciding on the order the pictures would come onto the screen and which special effects I would use where.

I finally got it all finished on Friday evening. My eyes were so sore and wouldn't quite focus properly. My mind was boggled and if I had closed my eyes for any length of time, I wouldn't have been surprised if I had seen the pictures jumping around in front of me. It had been hard work - and a huge amount of hard work. It had also got me stressed, worrying about whether or not I would get it finished in time and if I could do a good job.

I decided, however, that all the hard work was worth it. I was genuinely pleased with what I had created. In fact, not to put too fine a point on it - I was seriously impressed with my power point presentation!! I thought that the pictures all went together well and that the special effects helped to add emphasis to the images. The quotes all carried the theme across well and would hopefully people thinking. The font matched the pictures and the idea of making a difference to poverty. Yes, I was really pleased with what I had done and actually couldn't think of any way to improve it. I thankfully don't seem to have these moments of extreme pride too often (not much above once every two weeks anyway) but when they come, I make a really good job of it. I was proud of my presentation and couldn't wait to hear what other people would think of it.

I carefully saved the presentation so it would keep the right font and got it copied onto a CD. I was all set and ready to go. Now I just needed to sit back and rest content in the knowledge that I had done a good job. Actually, I worried about it all weekend.

The day arrived and we had a big rush getting everything ready and set up. The CD loaded alright and the font I wanted was still there in all it's glory. We didn't play any of the presentation then, as we had many other things to get sorted, but the first slide still looked good and someone voiced their approbation. Much to my shame, I basked in the compliment.

Later we played my presentation in the background while some other stuff was going on. I knelt on the floor and had a little look - just to see what it looked like full-size and to check that it came out alright.

Kneeling on the floor was exactly where I stayed for the next few minutes, stunned into absolute silence. Where had my beautiful presentation gone? What had happened to the amazing way it had all fitted together? To where had the rhythm and flow and perfect sequences all flown? I felt like I was watching a hastily and badly-put-together slide-show of a third-rate quality. All the pictures which I had carefully arranged at angles has been put straight; pictures that were meant to come onto the screen one by one with a little gap between each one, now sprang on altogether and were immediately covered up by another picture. Previously pictures had come spinning in from a distance, dissolved onto the screen, appeared block by block from corner to corner or swept up from the bottom of the screen. Now they were just plunked onto the screen in any old place and just sat there looking at me mockingly and covering each other up with fine disregard of an artistically pleasing appearance. My 7-minute masterpiece had been reduced to a 2-minute horror. My pride had been reduced to a little heap of ashes on the floor.

I still don't know what happened to make the presentation get all messed up, but I do know that my pride took a long jump off a 700-story building and came crashing down to the sidewalk with the biggest bump I can remember in a long time. Hardly anybody actually looked at the screen, but those who did probably didn't look twice. Everyone knew who had done it and I was thoroughly humiliated.

I don't know if I'll ever have the heart to do another power point presentation, but if anyone ever takes the risk of asking me to do one again, then I will take less time over getting it 'just right' and won't be half so proud about the finished product.

Now the question is, can you be proud of your humility?