Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000236 EndHTML:0000008557 StartFragment:0000002426 EndFragment:0000008521 SourceURL:file://localhost/Users/nealyasami/Desktop/my%20favorite%20verses%20-%20Vol%20II%20(Mar%202015%20to%20%20mid%202015).doc

As far as I am concerned, people are allowed to label me & judge me & criticize me & even insult me however they wish. My job is simply to keep Loving them all — especially my critics — while continuing to openly & courageously share my message of the Peace & the Harmony & the Bliss that come from every act of pure Forgiveness, selfless Kindness &/or unconditional Love … In essence, I CARE about all people (all living beings, actually) without caring one little bit about what those people think about me or my mission or my message. Indeed, this is the only mentality — the only form of “compassionate detachment” — that allows me to truly LOVE them at all.

That having been said, when misconceptions start to build up in frequency or intensity — and thereby prevent certain people from hearing the wonderful Truths I have to offer, it CAN be a great service to calmly shatter those delusions. Now we have once again come to one of those times, and as such it is once again time for me to concisely “set the record straight” – this time about “sin” & “sinning” …

 

First and foremost, the word commonly translated as “sin” in English Bibles is most often the Greek word “hamartano” (Greek 264 in Strong’s Concordance) … And quite contrary to popular belief, this word does NOT mean “bad” or “wrong” or “evil” at all. It simple means “missed the mark” — it simply means that a “sinner” is a person who has made a mistake; that he or she has chosen to behave in a way that does not reflect the Caring Self they truly are. We humans — each & every one of us — are programmed to “sin”. Each and every one of us have brains that always react with fear before giving us a chance to choose LOVE. As such, we are all “sinning” pretty much all the time.

 

It is a “sin” to look the other way when a homeless man asks us for change … It is a “sin” to gossip” about a classmate or a co-worker who is getting on our nerves … It is a “sin” to condemn Republicans for their callous greed or Democrats for their hypocritical war-lust … It is a “sin” to label the delusional &/or furious fighters of ISIS as “evil” and demand their extermination … And it is a “sin” to call anyone else a “sinner”. Indeed, in every moment we react with anger or fear or sadness or selfishness to any person, circumstance or situation, we have “sinned”.

 

And yet this is NOT what defines us, my Friends. What defines us as humans — what separates the mere mundane homosapien from the glorious Human Being — is what we do immediately after we slip into “sin”.

 

*Do we rationalize not speaking gently with the homeless man because he could be “dangerous”, or do we go back to him and show him Kindness?

 

*Do we justify gossiping about that classmate or co-worker because they are “mean” or a “liar” or “stupid”, or do we forgive them by giving them an “undeserved” compliment or an “unmerited” gesture of Love?

 

*Do we publicly defend our attacks on political opponents or opposing political philosophies, or do we disengage from such useless conflicts and start repairing our communities ourselves?

 

*Do we openly condemn “the terrorists” and call for their extermination, or do we have the wherewithal to forgive them even while we reject their methods — do we have the wherewithal to denounce their violence while fully realizing that they too are acting from a place of deep-seated fear & hurt & anger?

 

*And finally, do we maintain our arrogant incorrectness by labeling others as “sinners” — by rejecting their beliefs as “wrong” &/or denouncing their lifestyles as “less worthy”, or do we choose to humble ourselves despite our reasonable disagreements and extend to them deeds of gentle Kindness anyway?

 

Yes, it is true that we are all “sinners”, my Friends … AND YET this truth is completely irrelevant. Indeed, it is not at all important to realize that you have “sinned” or that you are a “sinner” — it is only important what you DO FOR OTHERS after realizing the same.

 

Amen … Let it be so.

 

“And as they kept questioning him, Jesus straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone who is without sin cast the first stone.’ … And when they heard this, they were ashamed and went away one by one … And Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him … and he said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Who is left to condemn you?” And she answered, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus smiled at her and said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and sin no more.'” ~ John 8:7-11

Filed under: My Favorite Verses by Scaughdt