Musings of a missionary doctor in the land of Nagas - Part II

Part-2
psalm 119:117
May Jesus hold us up that we may be safe and have regard for His statutes continually.

Little snippets from the mission diary :) just to keep my promise in the first mail,that i'd continue..

ONE MORNING SIX OF US WALKED TO WAPHR VILLAGE...
We wanted to get an early start ,so we packed 6 boiled eggs and few bananas for breakfast... the previous night we had called our man at the village to give information of our arrival, but the ever-failing mobile phone range ,failed us yet again!;)The walk to Waphr was 16 km one way. Our Sr. Sismy was with us, she too had walked... this kind of humility , really impressed the baptist pastor,he said that their clergy always travel by vehicle.He offered to transport us back when we were finished with our program,but of course-we chose to walk :) Due to lack of forewarning, the women had mostly all left for their fields. We still gave health education to the 8 or 9 women folk who had stayed behind in the village due to breastfeeding babies and other little ones. We had our packed breakfast with the tea they provided. After the class, the house which had hosted us , provided us with lunch. Our cook that day was a 19 year old girl with a 5 month old baby... I remember them clearly , because while i playfully used my steth on the baby, to my utter amazement , i heard a heart sound that indicated a hole in the heart!!! In college , our profs used to try and teach us this... so taking this lead i asked this girl if her baby used to get distressed while breast feeding, and frequent chest infections.. she confirmed the text book symptoms... so there, in that village, i made my first diagnosis of a probable VSD in a baby. :) I advised her of the baby's need for good medical care.3 days later , I met that girl in the PHC in town.( Of course this PHC is quite primitive in its facilities, but its a start! This mommy must travel 3 more hours before they can reach higher centers , that are not fantastic, but may have a pediatrician. ...)
THE WALK BACK...
Going downhill ,we just need to be alert not to slip, but climbing up is quite 'the' endurance test! We stop to catch our breath only when the chest threatens to burst :) After climbing a steep hill, exhausted ,we girls stretched out on the grass while the boys ran into a house on that hilltop to fill our bottle with water.Though our throats were dry, humor never dried out, laughing and singing ,our spirits were always enjoying a high :)Praise God!

These long walks to villages through picturesque hillsides, fields and valleys, invariably welded us together.We discovered the unique beauties hidden in each of our friends, as we shared a song here, a carrybag there, and short stops to eat bananas and rest.We found out how the sister with us loved to collect ferns and pine cones for dry flower decorations for the chapel... we reached home from Waphr that evening ,with practically a 'bag-ful' of the forest!
JESUS , THE ETERNAL BOY :)
Jesus is very clever at preparing soul-stirring surprises... I felt this facet of His love through little children. An eight year old boy and later a 4 year old girl, on different occasions.. . they would unexceptionably take a fancy to me [as if on a cue from Him ;) ]come to me and make me play with them ,gift me a plum or a flower... they barely knew me, yet they trusted themselves to me, completely! Only God knows how much they comforted me unknowingly with their innocence and freely gifted love!

One evening ,on a day when i had experienced some sadness, Father took us for a babas' (father's) meeting in PWD colony. He had asked uncle Philip (our older JY member) to give the gathering a talk.As we reached the house , the above mentioned 4 year old girl, Limreila, met me for the first time.She examined my rosary, my stethoscope, and opened my umbrella, then replaced everything in my bag ,before climbing into my lap and playing with me. She let me carry her to the neighbors' house, and later nestled next to me and pretended to read a hymnal throughout the talk.By the end of the talk, she took the stick of the agarbathi that had burnt out and pretended to pierce my hand with it.I had been quietly enjoying her childish antics and friendship, it really made me forget my sadness. By then I had given her many little kisses... so as she played her game of 'nailing' my hand , i thought to myself... 'Man, this is just like us. Jesus loves us and pets us so much and after enjoying His love so long, we just playfully, hammer nails into His hands! stupid us!'.As we were leaving , Limreila made me pick her up.She had decided to come back with us to Father's house.But of course we couldn't take her along ...

"ah, she is quite a philosopher isn't she? lets pat her on the back..." from you guys is not quite the aim of this narration!;) ... what followed is what amazed me... devout catholic though i am , due to my aversion to calenders and remembrances (which, unfortunately, is so vital to social living), it totally came as a surprise when Father told us that the day's mass would be in honor of the Sacred Heart ,whose feast it was on that day. The first reading was Hosea 11:1 onwards... "when Israel was a child , I loved him....Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them...I was to them like those who LIFT INFANTS TO THEIR CHEEKS.I bent down to them and fed them." I remembered Limreila :) The gospel was about the crucifixion. .. John 19:34" instead, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear and at once blood and water came out."

So like that the Holy Spirit had preached the word to me before the mass itself! It was mission experience par excellence ,to me :)"O taste and see, that the Lord is good!For He tastes like honey in the rock...He is my everything,He is my all...la la la"

HEART WARMERS IN THE COOL OF NAGALAND...
The clergy and religious of the diocese of Nagaland are a living witness to the fire of love that Christians everywhere are called to share. 12-hour journeys through bumpy , hair-pin-curve roads would be interspersed every 3 hours with the hospitality of priests and nuns of the parishes along the way.Their love for Fr. Francis (our priest) would make them open their hearts,houses and convents to us generously. Father only had to give them a heads-up , and there would be ready for us breakfast, lunch,tea or dinner!:) In Kohima, we were given a guided tour of the cathedral (which is the largest in Asia) by Fr.Benny, the Bishop's secretary. It was something memorable, to hold in my hand, the big toe of the 18 feet tall Jesus on the central crucifix, carved out of a single piece of wood (except for the arms) hanging on the wall,behind the altar.

Thank you Jesus , and all of you who as Jesus Youth made this mission possible.
God bless you all.
Please remember me in your sms's to heaven ;) my md entrance exam preparations and the exams themselves.. cos God hears the prayers of His saints :)
In Jesus and Mama Mary
Anna

Musings of a missionary doctor in the land of Nagas - Part I

One day in your courts O Lord, is better than thousands elsewhere... . one day as Your missionary where You send us,O Lord ,is better than thousand days in the comfort of familiar home ground.

I'm not a nun, a theologian nor a counselor, just a 24 year old , fresh out of medical college... yet young and old wanted to hear what this young lady , a doctor from so far away had to say to them...going to a mission area along with "professionals to mission" has given me the opportunity very few young doctors perhaps saviour! the opportunity to touch a lot of hurting poor people.

At the end of 10th std , i had told Jesus that the best chance for me to be a missionary of His was to be a doctor. He made me a doctor. But 7 years is a long time and i had long forgotten that teenage promise... though of course to serve Jesus wherever He might place me was my motive, a radical missionary life seemed too outlandish!

But praise the Lord! He had taken my promise quite seriously... A doctor friend of mine , spoke to me the words Jesus wanted me to hear... inspiring me to dare to give to Jesus the first fruits of my service as a doctor by serving the really poor in the mission lands.

The ostrich hides her head in the sand and thinks no one can see her. Christian Mbbs doctors hide themselves behind their books and think the Lord cant ask any mission work of them. If i became a doctor just to make money or to be a social worker then joining the rat race for a post graduate seat would be appreciable. But since He chose me to be His witness, a doctor for Him, my decision 2 bury my gold coins in the mud with the laudable excuse of preparing for pg just like my friends would be saying no to Him... so I thank Jesus for this opportunity

One month in nagaland taught me many things... one incident flashing like neon lights in my memories of nagaland that will both humble and exalt me throughout my life is what took place in a lil room filled with many daughters and sons of an old couple. The woman bed ridden with excruciating back pain following a fall. the first visit there i wrote a prescription for iv fortwin phenergan.the son promised to get it even if he had to travel 3 hours.next evening we went there so i could give the injection.however, the army medical assistant had already supplied the medicine and administered it.So after encouraging them to visit a higher centre for treatment of a possible fracture, my 3 friends n i were politely saying gbye when the old lady held my hand and motioned for me to pray over her. i had been always shying away from that, especially since a priest or nun with me would do it. this time we were only lay people and it was a baptist family. But i prayed that night.and then on whenever possible ended every consultation with prayer.

Really , Jesus is our loving elder brother.He uses us to do through us the good that He wishes to do for others .Because He loves to see our souls aglow with joy after each good deed He enables us to do.He is bowled over by even a tiny smile on our lips!He is captivated by us despite our weaknesses!!

Throughout my mission experience. He was there creating venues for me to be of service.
He put a zealous missionary priest in charge of me and the nun with me.Thanks to this happy blessing , we were welcomed in almost every house as Father escorted us around.When Father was out of station for a week, the catechists who love him and share his vision and passion took us to 3 villages,(viz Waphr, Liangkonger and Shamatoor village) arranging health education seminars wherever possible.

My days were filled with chances to proclaim to the people :"your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit." and to preach prolife sentiments . medical check ups after the seminar , dispensing the medicines Father had stockpiled for me , and medical check up in the school,patients coming to consult at home, ..

Telling stories to the catechism kids, teaching them action songs and explaining to them the blessings of the rosary , smudged the faint line differentiating the doctor from the missionary :) One day i was given an awesome invitation by the Father to lead the adoration for a few of us.For this blessing i give full credit to Mama Mary with whom i had prayed 3 rosaries that day... which is usually an impossibility for me!

In jakama ,st. Joseph's college, we explained Jesus Youth to the 150 hostellites. .. by a one n half hour program.i was unanimously made mc, by my loving english-shy brothers! later they rejoiced when i went to the pulpit to deliver a half an hour extempore on JY and its 6 pillars in the parish of Vishvema.

through it all, we experienced the hospitality of the catholic church in nagaland.there is more to share.. i 'll continue tomorrow dear brothers and sisters. Gnight!
your loving sister
in Jesus and Mama Mary
anna

Reflection on Child like love for my Lord.

I was enjoying a morning of rough and tumble with my two younger ones on the bed in the morning. It was a holiday and the luxury of lazing around and wrestling around with my younger two was all mine. I was enjoying the innocent love of the two little hearts which loved and trusted me with out conditions. These moments made me reflect on my love for our Lord.

During the initial days of the love for my Lord, my love was as innocent and beautiful as kunjunnis and kunju babychans love for me. It didn’t have a format, it didn't have words, it didn't have any frills and thrills. It was simple love. When I felt like loving my Lord, I would tell him Lord I don’t know how to pray properly, I don’t know how to meditate upon your love. I don’t have enough of my own love stored up to give you, so let me enjoy your ,love and show my love for you in me own childish ways. Then I could snuggle up into his loving arms as kunjunni did, and enjoy His love enfolded in his loving arms. I could snuggle up into the crook of his arm and stay there enjoying his presence and His love. I could enjoy the silkiness of his beard, hold his loving face in my arms and look deeply into those loving eyes. I could put my head on is chest and hear the murmur of his heart telling me of his infinite love. But I could not understand a word of it as I still did not know enough about his love. But those heart beats still told me how much he loved me. It could fill peace and joy with in my heart. Those murmurs could be the love song that could give me happy and contented sleep. I could feel the loving wound just below his pierced heart. Although it was a hard scar rough to touch, they spoke of his love for me. When his hand passed through my hair, I again could feel the scars on his hands, but they didn't feel rough to me. The scars told me about a love that sacrificed a godly existence for me. They told me about a resolute march through his life towards the cross for His love of me. They told the story of a God who loved his people to sacrifice His only son for them. They still talked to me of a God who waits me on the altar in the form of humble bread and wine so that he could be one with me on this earth They told me of an impatient God who would rather be sacrificed on the altar here on earth every day and be consumed by an unworthy me so that he could be with me now rather than waiting for me in heaven.

Now I know the formulas of prayers. I can say very pious prayers. I can sing and praise him and may be lead worship times. I can give discourses on his infinite love. But how I wish I had that innocence of my first love. How I wish I could have the intensity of that first love. I could give all my piousness, the beauty of my prayer and every thing to have the preciousness of that first love. I am in search of that wonderful love deep within me. And I am sure there is a lord impatiently waiting for me to reciprocate that love. My only consolation is that he is the Lord of love and he is an impatient Lord in matters of love. So my heart is searching for him knowing that he alone can give me back that love …

Bring Him to ME! Bible Reflection from Fr.Tom

Mt 17.17: “Bring him [the boy] to me”. This was Jesus. The disciples of Jesus had tried their best to get the boy healed before Jesus came after his tryst with God, His Father at Jesus’ transfiguration event. But nothing came of it. So Jesus somewhat disappointed asked them to bring the boy to him.

I hear him say this to me and to all who are working with young people. When we are powerless to do for a boy or girl to heal them of any weakness, Jesus tells me: Bring him/her to ME! How often we like to do things on our own but some cases need lots more of faith.

This story is much more elaborate in Mark 9.14-29 with many more interesting details. For instance, when the apostles ask Jesus why they could not cast out the demon in the boy, Jesus replies “This kind [of devil] can only come out through prayer.” Mk 17,29. So to handle the possession of some of our young people can be healed only through faith and prayer. In this context recall what Jesus said in the Gospel of John 15.5: without me you can do nothing! Faith and prayer imply that we rely more on Jesus than on our own expertise or skills alone. Sure we need expertise and skills but they avail nothing unless we have faith and prayer.

As I reflect on this simple statement of Jesus, I see this invitation to parents, teachers in schools and colleges, formation centers, parishes, hostels, youth centres with teenage boys and girls, who are not easy to handle. Bring him/ her to ME. Bring her to me in prayer. Sit with him/her to listen to them to help them discern their problem area and after having done all we can for them we bring them to the Master for his touch.

I also feel that often when we fail to help our young people, we tend to blame them and their environment and companions and all sorts of imagined causes for their behavior seldom thinking that we might be part of the problem rather than the solution. This is when we take them to Jesus. This means also that we go along with them for we might need fixing more than the one we take to Jesus. It is very unflattering to realize that we need fixing too. In the Marcan narrative, the father of the boy realized that his faith was weak, so he prayed: “I do believe, help my unbelief” Mk 9.24. In our everyday language, we could paraphrase: I have some faith but it is so weak, so small, so ineffective. Please help me to grow in faith. Jesus says: come to me and I will help you increase your faith at least to the size of the mustard seed. Bring him/her to me. Come yourself to me. Bring me yourself, your weak faith and I can help to increase it.

It is so painful...

Pain is a "pain". It offers only suffering. it is so painful...

Just the other day, the doctor brother of mine told me about a child who does not feel pain. It is a medical condition that is extremely dangerous to the child. This child has his lips almost eaten up by himself and hands and legs bruised and scars all over, some still horribly unhealed. Since he does not feel pain he ends up de-fleshing himself. A horrendous plight this boy must go though.

Pain is one of the greatest defense mechanism of the body. We take care of the body because there is pain. Pain is a gift.

If the pain, as a result of an injury or an ailment is a gift, the pain as a result of a mental condition should also therefor be a gift. It alerts us of the certain injustice done to us, that we need care and attention. Above all it alerts us that we need to connect back to God who gives us the right perspective to deal the pain and over come it.

Saints often thanked God for suffering and asked for more. They saw pain in the light of "the Light" They suffered pain for the sake of fellow beings. They thankful welcomed it for it's sheer redemptive power, sharing in the suffering of the Lamb that was sacrificed before us.

I thank God for pain...

Lent Special - Seven Deadly sins - No.3

Gluttony

Evagrius of Pontus, a Christian monk and ascetic whose ideas may have inspired St John Cassian's list of eight sins, gives us a very poetic, but comprehensive definition of the sin of gluttony: "Gluttony is the mother of lust, the nourishment of evil thoughts, laziness in fasting, obstacle to asceticism, terror to moral purpose, the imagining of food, sketcher of seasonings, unrestrained colt, unbridled frenzy, receptacle of disease, envy of health, obstruction of the (bodily) passages, groaning of the bowels, the extreme of outrages, pollution of the intellect, weakness of the body, difficult sleep, and gloomy death."

Proverbs 23:20-21 warns us not to "join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags." Proverbs 28:7 declares that "he who keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father." Proverbs 23:2 advises us to "put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony" and though that might seem a little too extreme, it is definitely indicative of how severely God views the sin of gluttony.

Why is gluttony a sin, though? Because gluttony is more than simply overeating. It is abusing God's gifts. Food, which is one gift, is necessary for good health, but when we overeat we abuse it and harm our bodies, which is another gift. Secondarily, gluttony leads to other sins like sloth. Daniel (of the den of lions fame) understood that.

King Nebuchadnezzar had once sent his army into Jerusalem. After securing a tremendous victory, they returned to Babylon with a bunch of prisoners in tow, among whom was Daniel. Soon after, Nebuchadnezzar instructed his ministers to select handsome, healthy and intelligent young men from among the captives and bring them to the palace in order to teach them Babylonian culture and traditions, so that they could be of use in his service. Daniel was one of those who were chosen.

Right off, Daniel faced a problem. Nebuchadnezzar had dictated that the new trainees were to be served the same food and wine that was served on the royal table. While this would have flattered most young men, Daniel was aghast. He was a vegetarian who drank only water and he resolved to consume nothing the king was offering. Why? Not merely because the food would probably have been offered to idols (a good enough reason for him to refuse), but because the richness of the food would have led to laziness, which in turn would have ended his powerful prayer life. Ever try praying on a full stomach? (Or anything else for that matter?)

A God Sized Hole

All of us are born with a big gaping hope within us. It's a hole that God himself placed so that we would search for Him and find Him. Some of us don't realize this, however, and try to fill the emptiness with food, alcohol, sex, tobacco, anti-depressants, and other things of the world. This hole, however, is a God-sized hole, and the only thing that can fill a God-sized hole is God Himself, which means that anything else that we do simply won't compensate. The belly may be stuffed, but the heart is hollow.

What's Eating You?

How empty are your hearts? Your eating habits may reveal a lot. What do you do when you are seated at the dining table? Do you pile your plate with food, then without a glance to see if everybody else has served themselves, begin attacking your food and don't say a word until you have finished eating? Do you take second and third servings?

Do you eat at the wrong time or when you aren't hungry? Are you fussy about the food that is laid on the table? Does everything have to be made just the way you like it? Does rice, for instance, have to be the best of Basmati with each grain unbroken and separate from the next? Do you insist on having the best of everything?

Do you snack constantly? When you are at a friend's house and the snack tray goes around, do you pick something from it each and every time it passes you by? Do you try to ensure it ends up close to you?

Do you tell yourself that it is okay to overindulge sometimes? For instance at a wedding party where a huge buffet is laid out with an array of mouth watering delicacies, each one more tempting than the next, do you let yourself go? Or when you are at restaurant that has a special "All you can eat" offer: do you believe it is okay—nay, necessary—to eat three times what you normally would simply because you want to make the most of a good deal? Do you ever give thought that there may be consequences to your health because of what you do?

We probably don't read too much into some of these things, but they are all indicative of gluttony, which in turn may reveal the emptiness within you. There is a saying that the way through a man's heart is through his stomach, which may very well be true, but not only for a woman to exploit; Satan takes advantage of this too. He used food to tempt Adam and Eve! "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate" (Genesis 3:6).

He tried to use food to tempt Jesus too. After His baptism in the River Jordan, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert where He fasted. After fasting for forty days He was obviously hungry and Satan, who is ever ready to exploit a situation to his advantage, was right there next to Him: "If you are the Son of God," he tempted Jesus, "tell these stones to become bread." Jesus knew better than to fall for his tricks. He answered, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (cf Matthew 4:34). He was saying that it isn't only food that fills us, but God's word too. Do we fill ourselves with it?

It is not only reading it and memorizing what God says that fills us, however, but doing what God tells us to do as well. After speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, His apostles returned with food and offered Him some, but He said He had already eaten. Confused, they wondered who might have brought him food. Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work" (John 4:34).

The Virtue: Temperance

The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess, helping us to control and moderate our appetites, be it for food, drink or anything else. Intemperance brings about an arrest of emotional development. Have you ever taken a little child into a toy shop? S/he will drive you crazy by his/her demands believing s/he needs everything s/he sees! Jesus tells us to be like children, but not like spoiled little children. There is nothing appealing about a spoiled child. That's what we become like when we are intemperate, demanding our desires be fulfilled. When we are slaves of our desires, we cannot exercise our free will, which leads to an inability to cultivate other virtues. Temperance, however, allows us to become the people God created us to be, spiritually and morally beautiful.

How do we control gluttony? Fasting and mortification usually helps, and both these can be done without damaging one's health. On the contrary, going on a diet that comprises only fruit juice for a week (or longer) can actually be beneficial to health, as also giving up meats, sweets and other things that we might be very fond of and think we can't live without.

What really helps, however, is addressing the basic root of the problem which is the emptiness of the heart that only God can fill. He has something beautiful to fill it with - the Holy Spirit. We have already met the Samaritan woman in the well (see Lust). She was emotionally empty, and tried to fill herself with the love of men, but she went through five husbands without getting what she craved for. She was hoping number six would do the trick, but as Jesus told her: "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:13-14).

In other words, we can do whatever we want to fill the emptiness in our lives, but the only thing that truly can is God.

The Gift: Fortitude

There is a very powerful passage in Paul's letter to the Corinthians where he speaks about "beating" his body, a euphemism for getting his body under his control. "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize" (1 Corinthians 9:24 NIV).

Many of us are slaves to our body. The instant we feel hungry, we look for something to put into our bellies. The moment we feel a little warm under the collar, we turn the air conditioner on. The minute we feel thirsty, we're reaching for the soda can. We need to make our body our slaves, bringing it into subjugation to us. The gift of fortitude helps us in this task.

To quote Pope John Paul II again, he writes that "when, like Jesus in Gethsemane, we experience "the weakness of the flesh", or rather, of human nature subject to physical and psychological infirmities, we should ask the Holy Spirit for the gift of Fortitude to remain firm and decisive on the path of goodness. Then we will be able to repeat with St Paul: "For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong" (1 Corinthians 12:10).

May the Spirit be with you.

Courtesy:
http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/columns/aneelaranha/sevendeadlysins/03.asp

Lent Special - Seven Deadly sins - No.2

Pride

He was the most beautiful of all angels. He was referred to as the Day Star, and the son of Dawn. His name itself spoke of his brightness—Lucifer, angel of light. He dreamt of ascending the heavens and raising his throne above that of God's. But he was sent crashing down to the dark recesses of the pit for committing the greatest sin of all: Pride.

That is what pride, described by theologians as the father of all sins, does to us. We end up going down even as we try to go up. It is also the most common of all sins, though strangely enough, most of us don't even realize that we are proud. So how do we recognize it in us? Honest answers to these questions may provide some clues.

Do you think you are smarter than others?

Some of us take a lot of pride in our own opinions, judgments and thoughts. I used to have a friend like that. He used to think he knew it all, and would expound his theories about every single topic under the sun. Most bemusing were his "expert" commentaries during cricket matches, especially given the fact that he had never held a cricket bat in his hand in his entire life! My friend was generally considered a harmless buffoon, but such pride can have serious—even tragic—consequences.

Dave McPherson tells the story of a U.S. Air Force transport plane flying over Alaska in the mid-50s with its captain and five crew members when they entered an unusually fierce snowstorm. The navigator contacted an air base only to be told that he had veered several hundred miles off course. Correct coordinates were given to the navigator, who continued to insist that his own calculations could not be that far off. Soon the plane ran low on fuel. The six men decided to abandon the plane and parachute to safety, but because of the sub zero temperature and winds that gusted to 50 mph, they were all frozen within minutes of hitting the ground. As a result of the navigator's pride, five other people went to their deaths.

Proverbs 12:15 tells us that "fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to advice." This advice is best taken when it comes from God, as Proverbs 3:5 says: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight."

The key word here is "heart". Faith is a gift of the heart and not of the mind. Many of us know a lot about God, but unless that knowledge—a mind thing—goes down to the heart, we will never really know God. We see this exemplified in the arrogance of Saul before he turned Paul. He was a brilliant man, very highly educated, who knew the Scriptures. And because he knew the Scriptures, he thought he knew God. Only when he was thrown off his high horse and met Jesus on the way to Damascus did he realize that he didn't really know anything.

Do you think you are superior to others?

This is a pride which basically makes us think we are better than everybody else, and is often expressed by bragging. One of the greatest braggarts of all times was the boxer Mohammed Ali who immortalized the phrase, "I am the greatest."

There's a story reported about a conversation that took place between a flight attendant and Mohammed Ali, then at the start of his career. Ali was on a plane and as he didn't have his seat belt fastened, the stewardess came up to him and asked him buckle up. "Superman don't need no seat belt," he told her. She gave him a withering look and said, "Superman don't need no plane."

We might laugh at that but many of us are guilty of this type of pride. Have you ever said—or felt like saying—these words to somebody: "Don't you know who I am?" Or how about this: "Who do you think you are telling me what to do?"

I remember a highly educated professional came to me one day for counsel. His marriage was on the rocks and he seemed to want to save it, but as he spoke I realized that he didn't want any suggestions on how he could repair it, but wanted me to affirm the things that he was doing, which mainly consisted of a list of conditions he had laid down for his wife, if she wanted to get back to him. I told him that if he wanted to reconcile with her he needed to forgive her for all the wounds that she had caused him—real or imagined—but even as I spoke to him, I knew it was useless. I could almost hear him thinking, "Who do you think you are, preacher man?" He felt superior to me; possibly superior to everybody.

This kind of pride can make us think we are superior to God too. We saw this happen with Satan. We also know it happened with Adam and Eve. Why did they eat of the fruit? Because they wanted to be like God.

Pride builds very slowly and often so subtly that we don't even realize that somewhere along the line we have become proud. I remember when I started Holy Spirit Interactive, people started referring to me as "Brother Aneel" and it irritated me because I thought it was pompous. As the weeks went by, however, I discovered I started liking the title and getting annoyed when people didn't call me "Brother". God, fortunately, doesn't let me get away with any such nonsense, and told me to level the playing field by calling everybody else brother (and sister) as well.

Do you have a spotty prayer life?

Not having a regular, disciplined prayer life usually suggests a high degree of pride because you believe that you can do things on your own steam. I saw this in my own life recently. For most of 2008 I shuttled across the world, traveling to ten countries across five continents and preaching to people by the thousands. Although I was encouraging them to build a good, solid relationship with God, my own relationship was at its worst ever since I got to know Him. I was spending more time talking about Him than with Him.

There were two direct consequences as a result of this negligence: One, I felt extremely tired most of the time, which was the result of working on my own steam rather than empowered by His Spirit. Two, I felt angry that God wasn't chipping in more in what was His work, which was the result of operating according to my own will rather than His. As I said earlier, God doesn't let me get away with any nonsense for too long, and He sat me down for a week in Omaha and showed me the error of my ways. I ceased all travel for three months after that, just restoring my relationship with Him again.

Maybe He is using my mistake to show you yours.

Are you vain?
Vanity is inflated pride in oneself or one's appearance. In his book A Love Worth Giving: Living in the Overflow of God's Love Max Lucado illustrates this aspect of pride with a delightful set of questions almost guaranteed to make us squirm. "Suppose you are in a group photo. The first time you see the picture where do you look? And if you look good, do you like the picture? If you are the ONLY one who looks good, do you still like the picture? If some are cross-eyed and others have spinach in their teeth-but you still look good-do you like the picture? If that's what makes you like it even more, you've got a bad case of pride."

Continued - http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/columns/aneelaranha/sevendeadlysins/01.asp