Sins, sins and more sins

     Heaven help us, we are a stiff neck people.  We take 3 steps forward at times and 4 steps back.  We are enamored with our own creations which supplant the appreciation and love due the real Creator. God knows this. Somehow, God loves us anyhow. God must see more than we see. Heaven knows God tries to drag us forward seemingly kicking and screaming as Jesus and the Holy Spirit reveal so much of Gods love and destiny for us.

     Casting aside what the definition and difference is between mortal and venial sins, I think we can see that a 'sin' is something we do or a decision we make that takes away from God. We often speak of our journey to wholeness, perhaps sins are those things than impede wholeness or that distract us from our journey. The really big sins are a wholesale abandonment of what we profess to believe.

       And hence we have the three steps forward and 4 steps back. We seem so easily distracted. We might think it is only children that cannot focus and that are mesmerized by shiny elaborate objects. It just saw an ad on TV for a new red i-phone. Ewww!  So shiny! Our lives are full of intentional and subtle distractions from God and our journey.  Do we take God for granted?  Do we seek out God only when things go awry?

         Looking at the political agenda and atmosphere that exists in the United States today, most thoughtful people, people of conscience and of God are appalled. How did we get here? We might now be praying to God for deliverance from this nightmare of mindless, arrogant and inhumane politics. Do we ask for forgiveness though? What role did we play in allowing this to happen and to continue? Is this administration representative of our values as a nation or as Christians, Jews or as faithful people who proclaim "one nation under God"? It seems we might have been distracted our lackadaisical with our citizenship here. Are we honoring God and helping our fellow man ( 'the least of his children' ) with what we have allowed to foment?  I think there might be some kind of social sin here on our part.

      I'm not trying to beat you down or even us down into some kind of submission like a Sunday preacher railing at us to repent and that we are all sinners! While we are sinners in so many ways, do not let our bad decisions distract us from the beauty and potential in each one of us. Let us not disrespect our brothers and sisters.

      In all this, we ask God for forgiveness. We ask God to help us return to a path of holiness, enlightenment and dedication to the love Jesus died on the cross to show us. 
Forgive us. Now let us repent in thoughts and action and respect.

Our Father in heaven,
   hallowed be your name. 

Your kingdom come.
   Your will be done,
     on earth as it is in heaven. 
Give us this day our daily bread. 
And forgive us our debts,
     as we also have forgiven our debtors. 
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
     but rescue us from the evil one.