Ego: the self; the individual as aware of himself...
Egocentric: dwelling upon one's self or upon one's own personal interests almost to the exclusion of everything else; viewing everything in relation to oneself; self-centered. --- from Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary
All world leaders, as is true of each individual, have to deal with the issue of ego -- to what extent is the ego going to dominate one's life and influence one's decision making. History is strewn with the wreckage of cultures due to leaders who miserably failed to bring the ego into submission to the will of the Creator of this mighty universe. God has revealed quite a few things about the ego and how it is to be dealt with in human experience.
We are presently saddled with a president whose ego demands attention on a 24/7 basis. Some have suggested that he has never really shifted out of "campaign" mode. There is the felt necessity to be always traveling somewhere and personally face crowds of people for whatever reason, and those reasons can be as varied as a giant box of Crayola crayons!
The latest expression of the Obama ego is seen in the planned Asia trip of 10 days which will take him into such countries as India and Indonesia. Controversy has erupted over the magnitude and expense of such a venture when in reality it isn't really necessary. While speaking platitudes about the economy and the need to get things up and rolling, the president fails to recognize that he can do some things or refuse to do some things that will not further burden the way things are financially at the present time in our republic.
Here are some things involved in the trip: already three visits have been made by security personnel to plan for "The Visit." Some hardware involved are 34 warships, 40 aircraft, a bunch of limos including the $300,000 "Beast," and of course Air Force One which gets a tad less than 28 miles to the gallon while in flight!
The entire 5-star Taz hotel has been booked for the entourage. This involves at least 500 people which includes Secret Service and White House staff persons. It was the Taz that was the scene of bombings and riots last year. So it figures that security will require not only a huge number of our people, but those from India as well.
One figure tossed around which is being challenged is 200 million dollars a day. But is it really possible to calculate the grand total which involves the expense of the hardware and the time and salaries paid to all involved somehow in this debacle of the first magnitude? One thing sure, you have more than a figure of $39.95 involved here.
As an aside - the ego rose again to the occasion at the press conference following the day of the election. The message sent by the voters was totally ignored with the "ego" suggesting that we citizens did not really understand what he was trying to do through what we interpret as "government intrusion" -- so there you have it again, we are a bunch of stupid people -- he's the smart one and knows what is best for us and the country.
Fortunately, there is a change coming at some point in the future and he, with the record setting ego, will not be the one who brings it about! Just take a sobering, prayerful look at Revelation 11:15 -- it tells of the time when all world leaders will be out of a job!
Then He (Jesus) said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what advantage is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels." --- Luke 9:23-26
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