Sunday, May 15, 2011
Ways of sinning
Well, of course, sin comes in many forms: gossip, backbiting, envy, pride, sloth, gluttony, greed ... and St. Paul said something like "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory" and Paul described himself as chief among sinners.. at least this is what I remember without googling. In face, there is an ancient wisdom that comes from the first century of Christianity and also from Jewish teaching to "avoid even the appearance of wrong-doing" because if you appear to be doing wrong, you will tempt others to judge or be scandalized. So if I see a door ajar in the apartment building, I do not go near or touch it, because someone might assume that I was about to enter... instead I call building security and they come and see that everything is ok.. and that is their job... and now there are witnesses. And of course there is the sin of pride. The icon of the Ladder of John Climacus shows how spiritual ascetic strugglers fall from the heights simply because they lose their humility.
