August 16, 2022

Reflection

THE GREATEST SIN

Every once and a while I notice some writer saying, "The greatest sin is ...."

Unfortunately, I forget to write down what that writer said.

If I did, I'd have a collection by now.

I spotted another one last week, but in the rush of work, I didn't jot it down.

My favorite is: "The greatest sin is our inability to accept the otherness of the other person."

Is it?

Wouldn't it be enlightening to walk into a waiting room - or a meditation room - and there on the wall were 16 or 20 framed sayings, "The greatest sin is ...."

Wouldn't it be neat to have in a church a side room with exactly that - with some wooden benches for people to sit and ponder - and pray - on the words on the walls in that room?

I don't know who the author is of the I like the best so far. 

"The greatest sin is our inability to accept the otherness of the other person."

I know I've seen several so far in my life.

Let me try a few of my own I can come up with right now - to get me to be more alert - in spotting them as I go through the rest of my life?

The greatest sin is laziness - leaving Lazarus - hungry at my doorstep.

The greatest sin is greed - grabbing pension funds - hoarding - holding onto what could help another.

The greatest sin is not facing our own sins - but only spotting others sins - and then throwing "tch - tch - tch" stones at them.

The greatest sin is coldness - lack of compassion - lack of concern - lack of anger at injustice and cruelty - and then peeing on those below us - on the ladder of life.

The greatest sin is a lack of gratitude and appreciation towards those who made us who we are today: God, parents, family, teachers, church, synagogues, mosques, temples, schools, friends, grandparents, wisdom figures, etc.

The greatest sin is not laughing, not crying, not clapping, not communicating, with those next to us on the bus, the train, the plane, the benches of life.

A smaller sin would be not reflecting upon all of this.