The Seven Deadly Sins have attracted me one way or another for years and years. Still do. At one point I was afraid of them, then attracted to them and then practiced them, most of them anyway. Actually all of them. Wrath, anger was clearly the most destructive in my life but also the sin that most motivated me to take action to rid myself of it. Anger at what was happening to our wild lands in this state made me become involved with so many things: Reintroduction of endangered species, rescue of species and then the most active starting the Superstition Area Land Trust with my pal Rosemary and her sister Phyllis. Wrath has been very,very good to me. I can't say so much about the other's, Lust was always fun, but the consequences weren't always fun. The same with gluttony and sloth. Envy makes your crazy and so does greed. Pride makes people hate you. Which has led me to the whole idea of SIN. Sin isn't so much the act, it is the result of the act. The acts that go against the 7 deadlies or the 10 commandments are the very things that most often separate us from the Ground of our Being, our God, our community, ourselves. Sin is not so much an act as a state of mind caused by certain agreed upon acts. All the acts have an appropriate setting. Righteous Anger, stealing bread for your starving family, Killing in self-defense, etc. etc. aren't sins, because the acts don't cause separation. Of course, there are psychopaths who never experience remorse. What are they, then? Jimmy Carter admitted to Lusting in his heart and never heard the end of it. He didn't DO IT, people, he thought it? Apparently God and the media make no distinction.
The big 7: avarice envy, lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath.
Name your poison. Which is your favorite?
The big 7: avarice envy, lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath.
Name your poison. Which is your favorite?
Labels: 7 Deadly Sins
posted by Anne Coe | 6:07 AM
4 Comments:
Maybe there are three sharply delineated dimensions of sin and then degrees within each dimension. The three dimensions might be the thought, the act, and the consequence. We all have unbidden sinful thoughts. But if we don't dwell on them, or act on them, they seem to me to be sinful rather than sins themselves. Sins seem to me to be defined by the act and the consequence rather than the state of mind. It even seems to me to be virtue rather than sin to have sinful thoughts but to rise above them -- to choose not to act on them and cause the consequence. Here's an example, poor though it may be: There is research that suggests that racism is a hard-wired, unavoidable, fight-or-flight reaction to someone from a different tribe. If that is true, is it the unbidden reaction to someone from a different tribe that is the sin, or is it the inability to rise above it? Is the sin the unbidden thought to lie when it might be convenient, or is it the inability to rise above that thought? Is it unbidden (inappropriate) lust, or the inability to rise above it? Etc. As to the latter, and adressing the idea of degree, Jimmy Carter may have sinned in permitting unbidden thoughts of lust to descend to his heart. Were the unbidden thoughts sins? I think not. But to permit them to descend to his heart suggests that he dwelled on them rather than choosing to dismiss them and rise above them. What fills you up controls you, whether it be avarice, envy, lust, or whatever. Still, I think God probably appreciated the distinction between thinking and doing, even if the media did not.
Very thoughtful. I do agree that we are hard wired to identify with our tribe and "naturally, fear or hate the Other. The bible is filled with contradictions on this (no surprise there) The message of Christ was that we are all Brothers and Sisters and as such should stop being filled with hatred. The irony is that the most fervent Christians are the most guilty of not doing that.
The sin might be the inability of see the consequences of not changing, as in racism leading to acts that diminish all of us. I do agree that sin is the act and that retribution is often the consequence of the act.
Wow, you agree with me! That is a first in my blog. You must be tired or not Kathryn. Happy Birthday. I know you will want to comment on love. See you later.
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