My Pride

I admit I was a bear in high school--Calvary Chapel Bears--and part of me will always be. But both in elementary school and at university I was a cougar, a mountain lion. Cougars are creatures of community. They watch each other's backs. If cougars are being attacked they gather in a circle, backs to each other, facing their enemies together. Cougars are cunning night hunters, with keen eyesight and excellent hearing. Instead of chasing their food they prefer using the element of surprise. Stalking their prey at close range, they wait for the right moment to strike.

So I say to Satan, come and get me. I'll will take my stand, on solid, sacred ground--cool, confident, and courageous. I say to the serpent strike. I will pounce on you and crush you under my feet. I say to the foxes of this world, those unwitting minions of the devil, those puppets of demons, and those souls simply misguided who find themselves on the side of sin and selfishness, I say to you come, come one by one, come all at once, but come. Fly at me with fierce fury. I will taste your blood before you touch the ground.

Do your best against me and my pride. It is you who will feel the power of claws cracking your ribs, the terror of teeth tearing your flesh. We will roar and you will shrink back trembling. We will rise up, majestic, in the image of The Lion. Our dignity remains; it will not be defamed. You who seek to steal our splendor will see it soar still, for we are the pride of The Lion of Judah, the king above all kings.