"Tell her he forgives her for being lonely and bored, for not being full of joy with a houseful of children,. That's what sin really is. You know-not being full of joy."(F. Buechner "Listening to Your Life" p.119)
Sin, that nasty religious word. A word that all of us have, that dwells somewhere within us. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, the Bible tells us. There are pastors out there who constantly harp on sin, pointing fingers, and letting folks have it. Usually they are ignoring there own rather large logs in their own eyes.
I've always defined sin as revealing broken relationships. Our relationships with God, our neighbors and ourselves. There are actions that are sinful because they negatively impact those relationships. But I sort of like Buechner's definition, "not being full of joy." I wonder if it might be more accurate to say that the absence of joy in one's life leads to the sinful behavior. As we try to fill some void where joy seems to be unable to break through and we take a short cut and oops we're even less joyful than when we started.
I suppose for me to keep from caving in, I need to find joy in the what I have materially, spiritually and relationally. They are all good and more than enough. When I see that sin doesn't have much of a chance.
Blessings,
Ed
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