Cursed are you who trust in your own strength… blessed are you who trust in God. …Does this mean that God curses us when we’re prideful? That God blesses only those who toady up to him? It’s been a popular understanding for years (millennia). Have we been misunderstanding this all this time?

This sermon was preached on February 17, 2019 and the readings it was based on can be found here. It was preached at Trinity Episcopal Church in Warsaw, NY by the Rev. Sare Liz Anuszkiewicz.

*Mother Sare misspeaks in the beginning of the sermon and calls Jeremiah Isaiah once or twice. She clears it up eventually. Also, the favorite poet she mentions is Hafiz. The poem in question is called ‘Purity’ as translated by Daniel Ladinsky.