What a difference some centuries make. For Aristoteles pride was the crown of all virtues. Of course you had to both be and think of yourself worthy of great things (otherwise you were simply vain.) For the next millennia we see the opposite sentiment emerge: pride will be defined as a cardinal sin. I’m not going to waste my limited number of words here on quotations, but if you google Pride and Bible you’ll find 30 some citations popping out of nowhere, all dire warnings of what happens to you if you are proud, pride comes before the fall being the least of it.

We nurture pride in our children, wanting them to be proud of their accomplishments and adding our voice to the chorus of maddeningly proud parents. We relish the pride in our athletes when they pull off yet another incredible feat. We cling to national pride (until we don’t – Germany had the hardest time with Nationalstolz after 1945, not feeling it or certainly not displaying it until some recent soccer championship where all of the sudden flags hung out of every window once again.) Gay pride is the only sentiment strong enough to conquer the centuries of enforced and oppressive shame. And of course, then there are the Marines….https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22b3LZIzEoE

And yet we get the Sunday sermon about the mortal sin of pride and the benefits of humility. Don’t get me wrong, I believe humility is an incredibly important characteristic to work on when trying to be a decent social being. But isn’t there something about harping about pride that keeps people lying low within their assigned social strata? A person who is proud feels strong, empowered, capable. That could lead to all kinds of uppity rebellion! Might even lead to questioning the fact that others control your life or questioning the existence of a supreme being that decided you are doomed if you twitch.

And last but not least, we also get the kind of psychology today musings of many a minister who extends the notion of pride to its mirror image: self-pity.  Well, that’s what I am walloping in right now, since I am off for a root canal after three days of despicable pain. Yet another blemish on my questionably immortal soul…..

 

Think of the butterflies as untethered as my fluttering soul will be!