Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains.
Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (a selection from his poem, Ozymandias)
We all know this ... but it helps to be reminded from time to time: nothing in this life lasts forever. Even the mighty fall. Whether it’s a corporation, a political leader, or a superstar, there comes a day when they are no longer on the top of the heap.
Jim Collins and partners started tracking the life cycles of corporations with their groundbreaking bestseller, "Built to Last." There they investigated why some companies (e.g. Disney or Procter & Gamble) continued at the top of their respective fields decade after decade, while comparable others came and went. They followed this with a second bestseller, "Good to Great." That sought to know why some companies (e.g. Gillette or Walgreens) made that leap from OK to greatness while others did not. Finally, it seemed only appropriate they should turn their searchlight on "How the Mighty Fall."
Apparently, like mountain climbing, there are only a few ways to the top, but you can fall all sorts of ways. Their central discovery? A "company can indeed look like the picture of health on the outside yet already be in decline, dangerously on the cusp of a huge fall..."
In other words, the seeds of our destruction are usually sown long before the harvest. If only there were some way to see that fall coming ...
Collins and crew found there are some usual stages through which the mighty descend on their way to the bottom; stages that, if brought to their attention, might allow them to reverse course before they are too far gone. The first three are particularly instructive:
Stage 1: Hubris Born of Success
Stage 2: Undisciplined Pursuit of More
Stage 3: Denial of Risk and Peril
These three and others are all present in the nations that surrounded Israel in the Old Testament years, constantly conspiring to bring about its downfall. But, God sent them warnings. Through the Psalmist and others, God showed them their hubris, their unbridled appetite, and the risks they were incurring by conspiring against His will.
This week's scriptures, especially Psalm 2, tell of God's sovereignty and the authority He has conferred on His Anointed One (Jesus). God makes it clear, to the nations and to us: He is the authority and that He has anointed His chosen.
Kings, rulers, judges, and everyone else must recognize both His sovereignty and His anointed. Collins and crew also discovered how corporations can avoid an early decline. There are ways to bring wisdom into the equation. Likewise, everyone, both mighty and otherwise, must be wise in recognizing God’s sovereignty over our lives.
The alternative is to discover, most personally, how the mighty fall.
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Click for PHOTO (plus all the words to Ozymandias and a funny take by humorist Ogden Nash). Or, Copy and Paste: https://muddlet.wordpress.com/2018/01/07/ozymandias-ogdeniasis/
A different version of this reflection, How the Mighty Fall, appeared in 2014.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Transfiguration Sunday (February 23, 2020)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=22
Exodus 24:12-18
Psalm 2 or Psalm 99
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9
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Join us Friday morning, if you can. As usual, we will meet at Our Breakfast Place (the Waco "Egg and I") at 8:00 to chew on and digest some scripture while chowing down on some great food.
Enjoy the week!
Steve
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