Time Out For a Thank You Speech

I have fantastic readers.  You guys leave marvelous and thoughtful comments and several of you even carried the discussion of 'sin' back to your own sites.  I learned a lot about the different ways that people see words and concepts and a lot of specifics about all different viewpoints on the idea of sin.

I don't generally mention when I get a new subscriber.  Of course, it's a wonderful thing when someone subscribes.  Over the course of my time on Xanga, I've gone from being read by my husband and sister (I would browbeat them into leaving me comments.)  Then I gained some readers from my SIR list who returned the favor.  Over the past month I've gotten new subscribers who found me through the featured content list.  Thank you for the comments and e-props that you've contributed to my site.  Your comments instruct and challenge me, and your e-props have brought me to the attention of new people.

So why am I making such a big deal out of this, today?  Yesterday, the 100th person subscribed to my site.

More On Religious Words

Yesterday, I was thinking primarily about the difference between the way that sin is defined by theologians and by those who have less interest in Biblical theology.  (And I thank season for pointing out that I was excluding Jewish theology with my use of the word Christian.  I'm not very well versed in Muslim theology, although they are also a 'people of the book' and may use a similar definition.)

I think that there is a huge disconnect between the way that theologians define a great many words and the 'common' understanding of what those words mean.  This is a problem of language whenever a word that has a specific meaning within a particular system is taken up in general usage.

In addition to sin, the terms, incarnation, salvation, miracle, chosen, perfection, heaven, hell, repentance, righteous, church and many others have a very specific meaning when used by theologians.  There is a danger though in using religious words, it's the same danger that is inherent in any form of jargon.  People use the word without understanding the concept behind it. 

Certainly there are some who consider themselves to be Christians who do not share the definition of sin I gave.  Some "new" Christians assume that they understand what 'sin' is because they thought they knew what it was before they became Christians and they haven't yet matured in their understanding of Christian theology.  Some people (Christians and others) find security in the formulation of "laws" that can be "kept" and would be very uncomfortable with the definition I gave because relationship is much broader than the "Law" can encompass.

A church board was interviewing two candidates for a minister position.  Both candidates were equally educated and had excellent references.  It was becoming more and more difficult to distinguish between them in a way that made the decision even possible, much less clear.  Finally, an older member of the board thought of a question he wanted to ask.  One at a time the candidates were brought into the room.  The elder pointed out the window and said, tell us what you can of the spiritual nature of the next person who walks by, and what would you say if you spoke to him/her.  Candidate One said, "That man is a sinner in need of a Redeemer.  If I could speak to him I would try to help him understand this and would invite him to come into relationship with God."  Candidate Two said, "That woman is the beloved Creation of Almighty God.  He has loved her from before the time she was born and loves her now more than any of us could ever comprehend.  I would like to ask her in what ways God has revealed Himself to her."

By Christian theology, both the statements these candidates made were correct, but the first saw people through the lens of law, the second saw people through the lens of relationship.  (And BTW the congregation hired candidate 2)

I'm not trying to defend a particular definition of sin against any other definition.  I'm hoping to make the point that it isn't the word that is important compared to the concept that it represents to the individuals in the conversation.

Correction: It is true that I alphabetize and organize things.  Approximately one half of my life is rigidly controlled and woe be to the one who disturbs the order.  The other half of my life is so uncontrolled and free that I'm not sure it's even with me most of the time.  I just wish it would send me a postcard occasionally so I'd know what region I'm scattered through this week. 

Religious Words

I have noticed that words we associate with religious life are understood differently depending on whether you are inside or out of the religious perspective.

The people I read on Xanga are not silly.  You guys are thoughtful and tough-minded.  You question and seek, and for the most part are impressive in your attempt to avoid dogmatism and maintain an openness to the breath of truth.

So when someone says that they don't believe in sin, that starts me wondering what they mean by sin, or more particularly perhaps, what does sin mean to that person.  The dictionary definition of sin is really useless for gaining understanding of this point.  If 'sin' is simply "the breaking of a religious or moral law, an act that does this" then it is silliness to say that one doesn't believe in sin.  Obviously,  humans frequently behave contrary to religious or moral law.

If I'm explaining the concept of 'sin' to a Christian - or to someone interested in learning about Christian ideas, I would say that sin is much more than the violation of a taboo or the transgression of an external ordinance. It signifies the rupture of a personal relationship with God, a betrayal of the trust He places in us.  I recognize that this statement makes a number of presumptions.  Primarily, that the person I'm speaking with understands what I mean by a "personal relationship with God."  That's why I would only speak this way with Christians or serious seekers.

For other conversation, it is silliness to speak of sin.  If the person I'm talking with neither believes in a personal God, nor understands the philosophical framework of Christian thinking, discussion of sin leaps over so many prerequisite steps of understanding that it is a meaningless term.

I am not seeking a Christian understanding of sin.  I want to know what the word 'sin' means, what it feels like to someone outside Christianity.  So I'm going to venture a guess and you guys can tell me if you think I'm close.

sin - an action/behavior that a person who perceives himself to be spiritually superior identifies as an excuse for condemning the inferior person.

sinner - person deserving of condemnation by non-sinners (ie. those who feel themselves to be spiritually superior)

I haven't seen the news this morning to know how other communities survived last night, but we had quite the impressive storm here.  The only damage at my place is that my garden cherubs were toppled from their pedestal.  In the next county over people had their glass broken by soft-ball sized hail.  As cool as I think it would be to see that, I'm glad it skipped us.  I can make do without the broken windows.

Spotthecat saw through me the other day and gave me a chuckle.  She's right - the day I described with the spilt milk and power washing the inside of the van - wasn't an unusual day.  It's always something different, but it's always something. 

Yesterday, the maintenance guy from Sears came out to repair my riding mower.  In the three years that we've had this service contract, I think they have completely rebuilt the mower from the ground up a couple of times.  The only thing they've only replaced once was the engine.  This was his last visit, my contract expires the first of June.  They have offered to renew my contract, but I could buy a new mower for the amount they to charge me, so I'll be going with plan 'B.'  The neighbor kid is going to tinker with the mower this summer until I'm forced to either admit he's a mechanical genius, or buy a new one.

For now I have new blades, a new oil filter, fresh oil - and as I was trying to drive it around to the shed to put it away it died every 10 feet.  Did it do that trick when the maintenance guy was here?  Nooooooo, it waited until he packed up his stuff and left, then it pulled out all the stops to be as ornery as possible.  The neighbor kid was here at the time though and says that I have a problem with the fuel system.  He thinks he can fix it.  I think I need to find a local farmer who is interested in bailing my lawn for hay.  By the time we get the machine fixed to mow it, it's going to be too tall for a regular lawn mower to handle.

Also yesterday, I deposited a check that AT&T kindly sent me out of the goodness of their heart.    I don't use regular long distance from anybody.  I pre-pay my long distance with Bigzoo.com.  Yes I have to dial an annoying access code before every phone call, but I have that programmed into my phone, so it's not so bad.  And it is more than made up for by the rate I get, 3.9 ¢ a minute to anywhere in the US.  If I lived in a city, I could get 2.9 ¢ a minute.  It only costs me 11 ¢ a minute to call my brother in Korea.  So periodically At&T, MCI, or Sprint will send me a check to persuade me to switch my service to their company.  I deposit the funds with a smile.  I've told them that they won't make any money off me, so I figure the checks are my payment for suffering through sales calls.  (Thank you Dale, for showing me how to make the ¢ sign.)

So far today, Michael is trying to persuade me that he can do his writing just as well with a banana in the other hand.  Tucker is walking around repeating a new phrase that he learned this morning "grape juice concentrate" - after the 20th repetition it starts to sound vaguely sinister.  The dog tried to get away with running a quick circle through the wet grass and heading back to the door.  She hates to do her business when it's wet outside, but I saw through that evil plot and made her go out into the yard again until she got it right.

I'm still thinking about the concept of sin.  Someday I may write down my thoughts on that topic, but it will be a long one and Fugitive will complain.    I don't just have my DVD's in alphbetical order, I have my CD's in alphabetical order according to their category, I have my books in alphabetical order according to Dewey decimal system.  I have my spices in alphabetical order.  The only things in my house that aren't arranged in alphabetical order are my closet and pantry.  - They are in order of color.  Is that a sin?  I'm still thinking about it.

There is a huge storm heading my way.  Lightning, thunder, tornadic activity.  So if I don't make it around to visit everyone's site this evening, you'll know it was cause my electric is out.

I had a couple questions on my mind today, one is really important and the other is just nagging at me.

First, several people have commented lately that they don't believe in sin.  That got me thinking about trying to define "sin."  Without a dictionary (I already looked it up and that was less than helpful) and without using the word "sin" - how would you define it? 

And the really important question - when you are alphabetizing your DVD's - do movies that start with a number come before movies that begin with the letter "A" - or do you file them in the place you'd put them if you spelled out the number.  (Does 101 Dalmations get filed in the front - or in the 'O' section?)

Today was a good day.  Now I'm going to light some candles and hope that tonight is a good night.