“Arrogance is a weed that grows mostly on a dunghill. The only thing more dangerous that ignorance is arrogance.”
The Gospel of Mark tells a story of a Rich Young Ruler who approached Jesus. He asked what he must do to enter the Kingdom of God. When Jesus told him to follow the ten commandments, the arrogant young ruler boasted about his own accomplishments – claiming that he had dutifully followed all ten commandments.
But pride cometh before the fall.
The Rich Young Ruler lacked one key thing that would always hold him back from truly finding favour in the eyes of the Lord. Humility. For everything he did was to boost his own ego. Jesus saw this in him when he told him to sell all his possessions and give to the poor.
An act of humility, which would require the Young Ruler to step down from his ivory tower. We know how the saying goes – “I would do anything for love, but I won’t do that.” The Young Ruler walked away, dismayed, for he could not part with his riches.
Such it is with the arrogance of those that think they are better than everybody else. They will never learn.
You are a man, Simon, who likes his fair amount of control.
Meticulous, savvy and always a player of the game at hand. You consider yourself the smartest man in any room, and you are rarely ever fooled.
Your cleverness is only matched by your own ego. You take such pride in the control you have over others, the situations you can tie them up into. Look at poor Zero, the impossible corner you and your wife have backed him into.
Look at the situation you have forced Luke Storm into.
You must be practically beaming with pride. Because nobody can pull off the master moves like Simon Blackhart. You are like the Rich Young Ruler who ticked all the boxes, stroking his own ego with how amazing he is.
But pride ALWAYS cometh before the fall.
In your ego, there is no room for Yahweh’s favour. You need no saviour, because you are your own god.
You don’t need a gospel to live your life by, because your word is biblical in your own mind.
But there is no room for error in your world.
No room for ruined plans.
No room for wildcards, and Sigil is ever a wildcard if ever we saw one.
For he has just as much of an ego as you do, and two heads cannot share the spotlight.
Like the Rich Young Ruler found out, your arrogance is your undoing. You can manipulate all you like, but you will have your comeuppance.
Vayikra is the weapon of that comeuppance.
We are the three in one, the force that moves in one motion.
There is no room for ego, for our mission binds us.
We humble ourselves where the Rich Ruler would not, because in that humility, we find the strength of Yahweh.
His light guides us.
His light burns through your ego.