The issue of sin.
You can't ignore this word during Passion Week.
Sin is one among many terms I have wrestled with these last several years. What is it really? A list of don'ts? Something I am born with? A thing I do? An attitude I have?
This morning I am considering this: sin is all about how we treat each other. "Each Other". That is like saying "who is my neighbor"? Usually when I hear the phrase "each other", I think of those in my family, my friends, those I choose to have relationship with. But, in fitting with the true message of the Christ, "each other" is all of God's creation. Every person, even those I don't have a personal contact with, is my "each other". This means taking stands for injustice. This means the people of the world, right now, who are going through upheaval and tragedy. This means the myriad of children in the world who are not being loved by those who should be their greatest lovers. These are those I work with, those that live on my street, those I see living on the street, those collecting cans and bottles, those waiting in line in front of me.
Sin is when I either do something that harms or ignore harm. If I look at the "10" commandments (for there are really only two and yet they are endless), I see they all have to do with making the world, my culture, my society, my place in the world, a place of honoring every one; of caring for everyone; of making decisions and my reactions things that place others equal or above myself.
God promises us freedom. This indeed would be freedom: a world where we walk in peace and harmony and well-being.
I want to think about this during this Holy Week. Passion entails not only the sorrow of suffering and death but love.
