{"id":1964,"date":"2022-09-13T11:06:33","date_gmt":"2022-09-13T15:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=1964"},"modified":"2022-09-13T11:06:33","modified_gmt":"2022-09-13T15:06:33","slug":"needing-to-be-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2022\/09\/13\/needing-to-be-right\/","title":{"rendered":"Needing to Be Right"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>.

Needing to be right can sometimes be oh-so-wrong.
\u00a0
I learned that more than 50 years ago while on a canoe trip down Sugar Creek in north-central Indiana with some of my high school friends.\u00a0 It was a beautiful spring day.\u00a0 The river was alive with insects, birds\u2026and snakes.
\u00a0
Every now and then we would see a snake curled up on a rock at water\u2019s edge, or catch sight of one swimming not far from one of our canoes.\u00a0 \u201cThere goes another water moccasin!\u201d someone would shout.\u00a0
\u00a0
I knew, of course, that those were almost certainly banded water snakes, or black racers, or any number of other harmless snakes that inhabit central Indiana.\u00a0
\u00a0
Most snakes can swim.\u00a0 But that doesn\u2019t make them water moccasins.\u00a0 The dreaded moccasin \u2013 also known as the Cottonmouth \u2013is an unusually aggressive, poisonous viper chiefly found in the American South.
\u00a0
I never distinguished myself as an athlete in high school.\u00a0 Nor was I invited to any of the cool parties.\u00a0 The niche I carved out for myself \u2013 my all-important adolescent identity and security \u2013 was knowing stuff.\u00a0 Long before Trivial Pursuit hit the market, I resolved to be a trivia master.
\u00a0
And what good was knowing a lot of stuff unless you let other people know that you know a lot of stuff?
\u00a0
\u201cThose aren\u2019t water moccasins,\u201d I calmly informed my high school buddies.
\u00a0
\u201cOh yeah, and how do you know that, McDonald?\u201d
\u00a0
\u201cWater moccasins live primarily in lakes and swamps from Texas to Florida, and up the Mississippi Valley, but have only rarely been reported in the far southwestern corner of Indiana, at a place called Hovey Lake.\u201d
\u00a0
I actually said that.\u00a0 I was 17 years old and I knew about Hovey Lake.\u00a0 I sounded like an audio book recording of a nature guide.\u00a0
\u00a0
My friends pushed back.\u00a0 Especially my best friend John.\u00a0 That was strange, since John had rarely thrown down the gauntlet in front of me \u2013 and in front of everyone else \u2013 when it came to my self-assured Mastery of All Knowledge.
\u00a0
The snake question, however, set him off. \u00a0I think he had simply had enough. \u00a0How exactly did I know that I was right?\u00a0 Because I simply knew I was <\/u>right, <\/em>I answered.\u00a0 Our conversation escalated over the next few miles of river, neither side inclined to submit to the other.
\u00a0
I could have let it go.\u00a0 I should have let it go.\u00a0 But I didn\u2019t.\u00a0 When we got back to civilization, I researched the range of water moccasins.\u00a0 Just as I suspected, I had been right all along.\u00a0<\/em>
\u00a0
A week later I triumphantly presented my findings to John and the other guys.\u00a0 And from that moment on, the fire seemed to go out of my friendship with John.\u00a0 We were never really close again after that.\u00a0
\u00a0
After five decades I still mourn my utter foolishness.\u00a0 I miss him.\u00a0 With regard to water moccasins, I had been right.\u00a0 But my damnable rightness caused me to torpedo a cherished friendship.
\u00a0
I was so afraid of losing what I thought was my only relational chip \u2013 looking smart in front of other people \u2013 that I never considered the cost.\u00a0 My hope ever since has been that the adult Glenn can show up in everyday situations, instead of the insecure adolescent Glenn.
\u00a0
We can be right and let everyone know it.\u00a0 Or we can be humble and attend to the needs of others.\u00a0 It\u2019s essentially impossible to do both at the same time.
\u00a0
The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 2:3-4, \u201cAgree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don\u2019t push your way to the front; don\u2019t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don\u2019t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.\u201d
\u00a0
May God help us choose humility today.\u00a0
\u00a0
Otherwise we\u2019ll all be snake-bit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here. Needing to be right can sometimes be oh-so-wrong.\u00a0I learned that more than 50 years ago while on a canoe trip down Sugar Creek in north-central Indiana with some of my high school friends.\u00a0 It was a beautiful spring day.\u00a0 The river was alive with insects, birds\u2026and snakes.\u00a0Every now and then we… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1965,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[131,342],"class_list":["post-1964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-humility","tag-regret"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1966,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964\/revisions\/1966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}