Pride
Pride, that is the first sin, the original sin. "You will be like God!" was the temptation. Pride.
Yesterday San Francisco held its annual
"Gay Pride" parade. The actual name of the thing is much longer but it's just so silly I won't bother with looking it up for this post. There were reportedly "hundreds of thousands" of people there, both participating and watching. It is always held on a Sunday, starting at around 10:00 am. I suppose there might be other reasons but I think one reason for the day and time is to slap Christians in the face by marching during the hours when most of them are going to church.
The reason I'm even mentioning this is because yesterday after work I was delayed for an hour getting home because the trains were too full to get on with my bike. I found myself muttering curses against "fags" and "perverts" and was full of anger over this delay. And maybe pride that I wasn't "like these sinners."
After about 30 minutes of this quiet ranting the Holy Spirit moved me to do something different and I began to pray for the participants in this abomination of a parade. I slowly began to relax as I found compassion within me instead of the hatred that had been there only moments before. Not approval of the sin or of the display, but compassion for their obvious pain. While they claim to be "gay" they certainly look anything but. They seem distressed and desperate, lost and seeking love. I prayed for God to move into their lives, to bless them and to save them.
Pride. My pride said I was better than these people. The Holy Spirit said, Jesus died for them, He loves them, they are your brothers and your sisters and you should pray for them.
In the end I prayed, for them and for forgiveness for my lack of love, and for
my pride.