Pride rears its ugly head ... I guess that can be true for me. I quarreled with a friend a long time ago. I don't even remember why; or if there was a reason why it now seems irrelevant. And regardless of how irrelevant the argument seems, or how insignificant that memory really is, people, in this case me, let pride run the show. "They should call me first" I think. "I don't need a friend like that!" "Whatever, they're just being sensitive." But excuses like that don't work: they don't work in friendships, or family, or marriages. Can you imagine if you and your spouse were upset with each other and you thought, "I don't need a husband like him!" That probably explains the American divorce rate ...

My prideful outlook on relationships is not only cultural, it's human. The old phrase "pride comes before the fall" is probably as true of a phrase that can be said, and of course in the Bible we are warned about pride -- but most of us just think, that's not me!

Sometimes it's hard to play "peacemaker", but I would imagine it is a lot more difficult to carry around the burden of anger for the rest of your days. I haven't talked to a friend for a year and a half -- a best friend -- because of some reason that I don't even know, and I said I'm sorry today and it was hard because part of me just thought maybe they should have said sorry, after all, I don't even know what I did. But I'll be honest with you, I feel better. Humility feels better than pride.

I just keep thinking about the sermon I heard on Easter, and thinking, if God can raise Jesus from the dead, then he can bring anything back to life. It's a nice thing for anyone to think about on this cloudy Monday.