Yesterday I heard a talk from John Dickson, the Director of the Centre for Public Christianity. He spoke on humilitas from which we derive the word “humility”. It was a challenging topic and I appreciated what he had to say about the “virtue” of humility. It made me want to be a little more humble.

I have my first opportunity today! I am preaching at a church this evening so I went to their website to get some information. On the front page there is an announcement that I will be there. I thought that was great (especially because I am called “fascinating”), except that my name is “Brain La Porte”! Nothing brings one back to earth as quickly as the realization that my name is far from a household commodity!

So there we go with my first exercise in humility! I will accept that I am not only not well-known, but that my last name is very easy to confuse. By the way, “Brian” = “high” or “noble” or “eminence” or “strength” or “honor” and “brain” = that mushy thing in our head that controls our thoughts and actions. Also, “le port” =  ”the port” and “la porte” is “the door”. So I went from a strong port to a brain-door?