The 23rd Step on John’s Ladder is, as I shared in the last issue of the Bulletin, PRIDE. We find that even among the most anti-religious of people, there is no sin that makes a person so unpopular as pride. We often hear people complaining that someone is “full of himself”. It is odd that the very people who reject religion and claim that “it doesn’t matter what you believe and do as long as you don’t hurt anybody” are the very people you always hear criticizing others for being arrogant or conceited. Since conceit is not actually doing anyone harm, it is hard to see what the problem is. Haven’t these people let the cat out of the bag and shown that they believe in sin and virtue as much as anybody else?

And while they may not be willing to admit it, pride is present in them also. It is present in all of us. The more prideful we are, the more we hate pride in others. The reason for this is simple: Pride is thinking you are better than others or that you deserve better than others. Therefore, when we ourselves are guilty of this or any other sin, we do not recognize it, or at best we justify it; but when we see it in others, we have no mercy at all. Pride is therefore ultimately an opposition to the second great commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” For the more we love others as we love ourselves, the less we will be upset that they are better, or better off, than we are.

Yet we still have not reached the ultimate depths of pride. In its purest form, pride is an opposition not only to the second great commandment, but also to the first: “Love your Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

Like St. Paul says, we should only boast in the great Love that God has for us and proved by His willingness to share His life with us. We are only who we are, with all of our talents and strengths, because God has given us these gifts. Pride in God’s creation offers praise to Him.