All Sinners Eat Snacks

I spent some time this morning listening to folks who are really into talking about sin. This word sin is loaded, especially for someone who has a lifetime habit of black and white thinking. Sin is bad. I sin; therefore, I am bad.

Indeed, I spent a lifetime trying to prove that assumption wrong by being very good. Being unconvinced, I would behave exactly as bad as I felt. Then hell would rain down on me.

Lately, I have begun to view sin differently. I'm told that the word sin is an archery term that means "to miss the mark." A sin is a mistake, an event that can be corrected.

The sin is the mistake; I am not the mistake. What a revelation to realize that I am basically good. I can relax and know that it is my divine right to be peaceful and not perfect.

When I am agitated, I know that I have forgotten myself. I can look for a mistake, and, if I find one, ask for it to be corrected. I can clean it up.

If I am basically good, then so is everyone else. Thus, the need for blaming and complaining is eliminated.

The challenge becomes how to listen to people talk about sin and sinners without going to the dark place. I prayed that I would hear what I needed to hear. I prayed to remember the basic goodness.

It worked. I heard that I make mistakes and that I can seek their correction. I don't have to dwell in guilt and shame anymore. I obviously need lots of reminders on this point.

Why would I put myself through this walk toward my dark side? My kid loves this class, actually jumps up and down when I announce where we are going. While I am attending my class, kiddo is attending an age appropriate version. While we talked about sin, they talked about doing the wrong thing and doing the right thing. Raised under the umbrella of basic goodness, my kid can assess sin without a lot of drama.

"So, what is a wrong thing?"

"Taking someone's toys without asking."

"What's a right thing?"

"Sharing. Can I have a graham cracker?"

So that's it. Sometimes we do the wrong thing. Sometimes we do the right thing, but when it is snack time, we all get a graham cracker.