When you are insulted by someone or humiliated, guard against angry thoughts, lest they arouse a feeling of irritation, and so cut you off from love and place you in the realm of hatred. (Maximos the Confessor)

Several months ago I was at a Capitol Hill party. I knew one other person there. I could not hear well through the din. Within ten minutes I was cut off and put down by a stranger. I left shortly after.

It was not really an insult and far less than a humiliation. But I have been irritated by the memory ever since.

When I was in high school we had an airplane context. Just for fun, I worked on an over-complicated, almost Rube Goldberg design. I was, in many ways, making fun of my own tendency to overcomplicate.

The daily newspaper from a near-by town covered the contest. My airplane did not do well, and I explained why, in a self-mocking way, to the reporter.

My picture and explanation was prominent in the story. Somehow it seemed I was being laughed at rather than laughed with.

Each instance should have been forgotten quickly. The second should not veritably spring to mind nearly four decades later.

Gracious God, calm my pride and displace it with love for you.