Reflections for 2/24/10

"The classic sources of evil are the world, the flesh and the devil-in that order! We became preoccupied with guilt. We had to know who was bad, who should feel shame. Many people were made to feel bad as children. The Church and the world have both used shame to control the people. It usually works, and it emphasizes the flesh (personal fault) instead of a social critique of the world." (R. Rohr "Radical Grace" p. 109)

What stops anyone from doing something wrong? One would hope that its a strong moral foundation which has equipped an individual to know the difference and to choose the right course. I wonder though if what stops most people from following their more base instincts, is a fear of being caught and the embarrassment that will follow?

As a society we have a love/hate relationship with fleshy sins. While we may utter a tsk, tsk, tsk when we hear of someones indiscretions, we also love tabloids, whether print or television. We've gotten very hung up on sexual stuff. The moralizing happens simultaneously with the fascination of it. What I find myself doing when someone does a little too much moralizing is to wonder when we'll find out what they've been up to and are trying to hide.

We don't hear much about the "devil" these days. And that may be because that personification of evil only works in movies these days. Except when we criticize political leaders from the "other" party, no matter which party it is.

But what about the sins of the world? Occasionally you'll hear some voices rumbling about the sin of racism, or the exploitation of the poor for example. And attempts will be made to address these more systemic issues, but they become so large and seemingly so hard to address, that there is often a retreat back to worrying about who's zooming whom. Faith communities have lost the notion of "taking away the sins of the world" in its much larger connotation and focused solely on taking away my sins. That's not to say that Jesus, doesn't take away personal sin, but there's bigger issues in the world than just me.

Perhaps one idea might be to take the time, while looking at my "fleshy" sins, to also take a look at how I participate and support those much larger sins. If one less person supports those types of evil and maybe even begins to voice some real objections, we might find that some of the other aspects of life that need improving might happen as well.

Blessings,
Ed