Subtle Sins In Our Lives

Growing up as a Catholic we had regular confession time where I would go into the confessional box – confess my sins to the priest – receive my penance of Hail Mary’s and Our Fathers and then continue with my life. As a young boy there were only so many things I could say that I was doing wrong – I was fighting with my brothers (an every day occurrence sometimes), I was disobeying my parents (also a frequent happening), and I said a swear word here and there. In Catechism classes I learned about Mortal sin and Venial sin, but there were some sins I didn’t learn about until I was much older. I think there are subtle sins that we have to be careful of in our lives.

We know of the sins of lust, hatred, greed and pride; but, what about the sin of indifference? We can be indifferent to the lives of those around us – those who are hurting or in need or those who need a reassuring word of comfort and encouragement.

What about the sin of bitterness which can lead to self-centeredness. We can grow bitter because of the things life has handed us – which sometimes, truth be told, are results of our own poor choices. Maybe we grow bitter because some thing didn’t go the way we wanted it to go. Or we grow bitter because we have an illness like cancer or leukemia or a tumor. Now, this isn’t to say we should negate the seriousness of this illness, yet it also doesn’t mean we shut God out of our lives because of it.

Self-centeredness can lead us to place ourselves first and others, including God, second or third or even last in our lives.

There is another subtle sin that comes to mind for me which I call lack of awareness. We can be unaware of life around us – or God’s involvement in our lives. This is not the same as indifference. Indifference means we know what is happening, we just don’t care. Lack of awareness means we don’t even know what is happening. We go through out day not seeing the blessings God gives us, not sharing in the joy of those around us, not being in relationship with people around us.

In 1938, Thornton Wilder wrote a Pulitzer-Prize winning play called Our Town. It tells the story of a young woman named Emily who dies and is given permission to return to the earth for one memorable day. She can pick any day from her life and relive it moment by moment.

She chooses to go back on her twelfth birthday because she remembers it as a happy day. She is soon frustrated, however at the lack of awareness of those she loves. She wants to engage in life with them, but she see that they are just going through the motions, taking each moment for granted. As she stands by and watches her birthday take place, she tries to stop it because she can’t take it anymore!

She had been reliving her special day, and yet no one was experiencing the significant moments. People weren’t even looking at one another. Emily cries out, “I can’t. I can’t go on. It goes so fast. We don’t have time to look at one another… Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? Every, every minute? (Thornton, Wilder, Our Town, 108)

What are the weights and sins that pull at you? Where do you find yourself growing more distant in your relationship with God and those around you? Is it time management – a schedule to full to allow God a significant part of time with you? Is it selfishness – my needs come first? What would you write down if you were to take a prayerful moment in thinking about this?