Tenative Confessions

I don’t think much about sin.  It may be hubris, but the definitions I've grown up with seem irrelevant.  However, a friend recently sent me an article with a meaningful definition of sin.  Paul Tillich defines it as separation:  “separation among individual lives, separations of a man from himself, and separation of all men from the Ground of Being….Before sin is an act, it is a state.” 

I love this.  It is relevant and describes so well my struggles.  Tillich says sin is a condition we’re born with—original sin with a difference.  It’s similar to the Buddhist idea that suffering happens when we reject what is.  Hearing this from a Christian and Buddhist perspective is helpful.  Since reading this article, I’ve been noticing when I separate myself and when I don’t.

Tillich then goes on to define grace:  “the reunion of life with life, the reconciliation of the self with itself.  Graces is the acceptance of that which is rejected.”  I assume there are different levels of this.  I’ve been hiking in the desert around Tucson and feel so connected to the beauty of nature.  Then, a human being annoys me, and I feel myself falling into that state of sin.  As with the sin of my childhood, there’s an urge to feel guilty.  I’m trying not to be separate from any of this.  Surely, if I can connect to a prickly pear growing in the desert, I can connect to a prickly person or a prickly self.  I’m not there yet, but nature is one teacher.