Out of the mid-wood’s twilight Into the meadow’s dawn, Ivory limbed and brown-eyed, Flashes my Faun!
He skips through the copses singing, And his shadow dances along, And I know not which I should follow, Shadow or song!
O Hunter, snare me his shadow! O Nightingale, catch me his strain! Else moonstruck with music and madness I track him in vain!
About The Poem
“In the Forest” appears in the “Uncollected Poems” (1876–1893) section of the volume Poems, with The Ballad of Reading Gaol, published in 1909 by Methuen & Company. During the 1890s, Wilde faced three criminal and civil trials due to his relationship with the poet Lord Alfred Douglas. In March 1946, Poetry: A Magazine of Verse published the article “Oscar Wilde’s Poetry as Art History” by American poet Edouard Roditi, who wrote: “The evolution of Wilde’s descriptive style in his poetry, from the museum-piece ornateness of his earlier works to the simpler and more delicate art of his more mature poems, was accompanied, moreover, by an analogous evolution of his poetry’s intellectual content, from the discussion of general problems of politics, ethics or esthetics to a greater attention to personal impressions or to the elucidation of particular problems of the poet’s life, such as his temptations and moral conflicts. […] Wilde proved his ability to compose, had he but dared, a body of poems, on themes of sin, suffering and remorse, which might have been the Fleurs du Mal of English literature, with much of Baudelaire’s concise quality as opposed to Swinburne’s vagueness.”
About the Poet
Oscar Wilde, born in Dublin, Ireland, on October 16, 1854, was a playwright and poet. His first book of poetry, Ravenna (T. Shrimpton and Son, 1878) won the Newdigate Prize. Wilde won more acclaim for his plays, particularly An Ideal Husband (L. Smithers, 1899) and The Importance of Being Earnest (E. Matthews and John Lane, 1899). He died in Paris on November 30, 1900.
It’s a new work week, and sort of a new era at the museum. My new director has her first day today. While she’ll probably spend most of her time with onboarding procedures and paperwork, she should be in the museum this afternoon. I initially had trepidations about this new era. I usually do not deal well with the anticipation of change, but once it happens, I generally go with the flow. With a new boss, I was worried about someone coming in and being a micromanager.
However, a few weeks ago, I had a long meeting with her, and we discussed the museum’s educational activities and our public programs. At that time, she reiterated that she was there to help not micromanage or change anything. My former director had already told her that I was very good at my job, and she was lucky to have me. I don’t expect a lot of upheaval, but I do expect a more competent director.
My previous director was a nice guy, sometimes too nice, and a good friend, but he was never cut out to be a museum administrator. I’ve always felt like his wife pushed him to pursue the position, and he was just not ready. That led to some issues, and there were times when he would hide his head in the sand instead of effectively dealing with issues that arose. I am hoping that our new director is a stronger person and a better advocate for her employees, and I hope she’ll take on problems that come up and handle them competently.
Of course, only time will tell how she will perform as director, but what I’ve seen so far, I am optimistic. I am not always the best judge of character, nor the best at recognizing red flags. I was in the hiring committee for our new director, so I hope we made the right choice. In the last two hiring committees I was on, I think we made mistakes and missed the red flags. So, I worry that I may have missed any red flags; however, I hope I learned from my previous experiences. In the song “Feelin’ Good,” Nina Simone sang:
It’s a new dawn It’s a new day It’s a new life for me, ooh And I’m feeling good
I guess we’ll see how it goes, but as of now, I’m feeling good.
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.
—Proverbs 16:18-19 (KJV)
Should we celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride when it is considered one of the Seven Deadly Sins? The answer is yes because LGBTQ+ Pride is not a sinful pride as described in scripture. It is a celebration of who we are, and the person God created us to be. Pride in the Bible is the antonym of humility. TheBritannica Dictionary offers four definitions for Pride:
a feeling that you respect yourself and deserve to be respected by other people, i.e., self-respect
a feeling that you are more important or better than other people
a feeling of happiness that you get when you or someone you know does something good, difficult, etc.
a person or thing that makes you feel proud
It is the second definition that the Bible says God abhors and is a sin. LGBTQ+ Pride is an example of the first and third definitions. LGBTQ+ Pride is about self-respect, not superiority. The Bible offers two basic types of pride: legitimate pride and sinful pride.
The word “pride” is mentioned in the Bible multiple times, but the exact count varies depending on the translation. The New King James Version mentions the word “pride” 51 times, but there are many more instances of pride that do not use the word itself. None of those instances encourage pride. Pride, in a biblical context, refers to an excessive sense of self-worth, arrogance, and superiority often leading to rebellion against God. In the Bible, pride is frequently associated with disobedience, rebellion, and an elevation of self above God and others. It is regarded as a sin that hinders humility and disrupts one’s relationship with God.
To give a biblical example, in Revelation 18, an angel announces the judgment of Babylon and describes what provokes God’s wrath on the world. Revelation 18:7 says: “In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’” Here we see pride is what Revelation describes as the antichrist. (The Epistle of James speaks of many antichrists, not just one as some Christians believe. An antichrist is someone who is the opposite of Christ though they will often claim to be Christ-like.) Pride is an attitude that we can trust in wealth and independence and have no need for God in our lives. As Believers, we are called to rely on the Lord for all that we need.
Matthew Poole, an English Puritan who lived from 1624–1679, summarized in his commentaries the situation this way, “Pride goeth before destruction; it is commonly a forerunner and cause of men’s ruin because it highly provokes both God and men.” There is a tension between the will of man and the will of God. For things to go well for us, we must be willing to surrender our lives to God and follow the example set forth by Christ. We are called to trust God with our hearts and believe God when He promises that He will take care of us. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
In contrast to sinful pride, LGBTQ+ pride is not meant to celebrate arrogance or superiority. LGBTQ+ pride is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to shame and social stigma, is the predominant outlook that bolsters most LGBTQ+ rights movements. Pride is a celebration of who we are and the rights we have fought to be acknowledged and protected. It is about equality, not superiority. We have parades, parties, and rainbows everywhere to celebrate Pride, and it may look like a sinful pride from the outside looking in, but it is actually a humble pride. We do not seek superiority over others; we seek equality and recognition.
In his annual proclamation for Pride month, President Biden wrote, “To the entire LGBTQI+ community — and especially transgender children — please know that your President and my entire Administration have your back. We see you for who you are: made in the image of God and deserving of dignity, respect, and support.” I can’t reiterate enough that we are made in the image of God and deserving of dignity, respect, and support. This is what Pride should be for LGBTQ+ Christians.
P.S. I could have done a whole post about Donald Trump and the sins of pride. He is one of the most sinful examples of pride in the public eye today, but with his conviction on Thursday and his and other Republicans subsequent reactions, I can only be reminded of Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
I love the sound of rushing water whether it’s a mountain stream or a waterfall. The sound is infinitely soothing. With that said, today also marks the beginning of Pride Month, and the above picture seems to be the perfect one to kick off the month.
The picture above has no relation to this post except I thought his facial expression fit the subject.
People in the United States were mostly either happy, sad, or angry when the guilty verdicts of 34 counts of falsifying business records was announced. I am mostly in the sad camp, not because I don’t think Trump is guilty ( I think the man is a fraud, a cheat, a liar, and has no regard for the rule of law), but I’m sad that a former American president was convicted of not just one felony but of 34 felonies. It was a dark day in American history. A former American president and the current Republican nominee for president (officially he won’t be the nominee until after the Republican National Convention) was convicted of 34 felonies.
November 8, 2016, when a minority of Americans and a majority of the Electoral College was chosen to elect this fraud of a man president. January 6, 2021 was an even darker day when he called on his followers to try to stop the Democratic process from certifying that he’d lost the 2020 presidential election. In the past eight years, Donald Trump has been the cause of many dark days in American history.
A lot of Republicans will claim that Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts is/was politically motivated. However, I want us to keep in mind that the New York district attorney took these charges to a grand jury who indicted Trump, a grand jury made up of ordinary Americans who were doing their civic duty. Then, during the trial, a jury agreed upon by both the prosecution and defense heard the evidence presented and the district attorney and a defense put forth by Trump’s lawyers found Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony counts.
Whatever anyone might believe about political motivations, a jury doing their sworn civic duty found him guilty because the prosecution’s case, the testimony of witnesses, and evidence of crimes was convincing and the defense’s refutation, the defense of these crimes, and the repeated claims of innocence was not convincing. This was the American judicial process at work, not a kangaroo court or a show trial, but the justice system in the State of New York working as it should.
Is this conviction likely to sway Republican opinions about Trump or cause them to admit he committed crimes? No, at least for the majority of Republicans, it won’t. As both Biden and Trump said yesterday, the true judgement will come on November 5, 2024. The ultimate judgement will come in how history remembers this period of American history.
Republicans have said over and over that the Biden administration is using the courts as a weapon. The Biden administration had nothing to do with this conviction. Furthermore, for the past four years Donald Trump has proclaimed that he would use the courts as a weapon to punish those he sees as his enemies. He has repeatedly said he would get retribution and revenge against those who have not supported his political witch hunts against his enemies, have not supported his criminal activities, or his fascist rhetoric.
November 5, 2024 will decide whether America is a democracy or if people would rather see this country turn to fascism. I pray that the majority of Americans choose Democracy. We can only do that by exercising our civic duty and voting!
P.S. Possibly only two other American president have committed crimes that could have led to convictions: Warren G. Harding and Richard M. Nixon (both were Republicans). Harding had the good grace to die of a heart attack before his involvement with the Teapot Dome scandal and the “Ohio Gang” could be fully investigated. Nixon was pardoned by another Republican president, Gerald Ford, of any possible crimes he might have committed during the events surrounding the Watergate scandal. Harding and Nixon never faced a trial. Donald Trump has, and he has been convicted. Like Trump, Harding’s and Nixon’s criminal associates have been convicted of numerous crimes.
Because politics can leave a nasty taste in your mouth, I give you a beautiful palate cleanser, Isabella pic of the week:
Even she knows she’s beautiful. Before I put my collection of DVDs in this cabinet, she would spend a lot of time looking at her reflection in the glass. Granted, she kept walking around the cabinet trying to find the cat staring back at her, but she knows she’s a queen.
Joe
The Closet Professor 