Pride is an easily identified Deadly Sin. Who hasn't made it through high school English without learning about Hubris? Virtually every Shakespearean hero studied in high school is guilty of it, so we know that it's a bad one.
Which is why I'm so worried. Here's what happened:
There I was, crack of dawn (7:30 to be exact, but let's not quibble), shoveling sidewalks. Oh yes, that's a plural. Now, it wasn't 2-feet-of-snow shoveling, but still...there I was, cheerfully mind you, shoveling away while hubby wondered vaguely what was taking his coffee so long to make it all the way up to the bedroom. And the fact that he was still horizontal while I was vertical, clad for the elements, implement of civilization firmly in grip, overpowering Nature, made me proud. In a bad way - slightly superior to the non-shovelers, smugly virtuous. Oh yes, I was shoveling. I was virtuous. The Virtuous Shoveler (a rare literary character). I even shoveled the elderly shut-in's sidewalk and walkway, and she's not one of these lovely elderly shut-ins either.
So, the question is, if doing good makes you commit one of the Seven Deadly Sins, is it actually virtuous to forgo being virtuous? Or in other words, should I just stay in bed next time and not shovel the sidewalks in order to ensure that I will be one of the Blessed Ones admitted to Heaven? I know, it's a question right up there with how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. But much hangs in the balance...
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Only be sure of the act ... let God remdeem the motive. Or said the superlatively conflicted Father Martin of Erfurt. I think. Google demurs to confirm this for me.
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