A Positively Poetic Priest

Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 18 BCP 233) "Pride" is one of those words in today's world which has a lot of connotations. We can talk about the healthy pride of having accomplished something, we can talk about LGBTQ Pride which is about self and social acceptance, we can talk about unhealthy pride or sinful pride when we put ourselves ahead of others in destructive ways. The Collect for this coming Sunday specifies the kind of pride meant when it prays, "the proud who confide in their own strength." The old proverb, "Pride comes before a fall" is an abbreviation of a Proverb from the Bible. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Proverb...

Joy: Fear! I need a list of all the possible negative outcomes on the first day at a new school. Fear: Way ahead of you there. Does anyone know how to spell "meteor?" - Disney Pixar's Inside Out We all know what it is to be afraid. We are afraid of bad things happening to ourselves and our family. We are afraid for the state of our community or town or country. We all have our own personal fears as well, a fear of spiders or bats or running out of food. We learn to live with our fears, learn to cope with them in different ways, which allow us to continue to be a part of our lives without having to be locked in a safe padded room all the time. Fear is a basic survival instinct. Fear has saved us many times in our lives from getting into situations where we know destructive things could happen. Fear is not always a bad thing. Knowing what we are afraid of and why allows us to take precautions in order to be safe. It also allows us to understand how past trauma...