Children's Toys?

Shall we not put away these sharp-edged children's toys?
-ACIM-W-4. What is Sin?:5:2

My head is spinning today with new ideas, new questions and new thoughts.  :) I want to expand a bit on what I wrote about last entry and indirectly use it to explain another word I have been tripping over. That word is 'Sin".

How does entropy relate to the word sin? 

Well, to begin, I see both the use of 'entropy' and 'sin'  as being open to a lot of conflicting interpretations. I could have put the science community in an uproar with my lay man's description of such an important and complicated natural law, as I have described in the last post.  From what I read, chemists differ in their interpretation than biologists do.  The mathematicians and physicists understanding of the term may differ from that of the organic scientists.  A philosopher's or mere writer's definition or interpretation should be ignored all together, lol. (From what I read).  So there is some conflicting interpretation in regards to this word, entropy. 

And there is a lot of conflicting interpretation of the word, 'sin'.  I know I am going to cause an uproar with the majority of opinion holders by my description of this new understanding of it that takes me away from what I was brought up to believe it meant.  I know how 'sensitive' this topic is...how ingrained the belief in sin ideology is.  It is not my intention to offend or step on tender toes. I am not denying the importance of religious or cultural belief. I do not mean to hurt anyone but at the same time I seriously believe we need to question this idea of 'sin' we cling to.  Maybe we have to ask: Is sin a useful, educational children's toy that promotes goodness and God's order or a sharp-edged one that damages and scars? 

Our conditioned idea of Sin, I believe, is a sharp-edged children's toy.


I was raised Catholic and sin was a very big and ominous word for many of us who grew up in that faith tradition. ...most Christian  faith traditions, actually.  Sin was something we were taught that we intentionally and unintentionally committed as we tramped along our paths.  It included  a myriad of judged infractions  from swearing to viciously murdering someone.

Sin was  a horrible thing that stained the soul and made us unworthy of God's proximity. It didn't just illicit feelings of guilt and remorse for what we did or did not do.  It induced and maintained a sense of shame and unworthiness for who we were.  It separated and kept us away from God until we repented and were forgiven. Like the cross, it was a heavy, heavy weight to carry but carry it we must because  the thing is...we were born with it.  We didn't have to 'do' anything to be sinners.  We were born that way.

Who judged a sin a sin in this version?  God did, of course, and all his management people, trickling down the hierarchy from the Pope to the old lady sitting in the pew behind you with Sunday's missile rolled up in her hand, ready to give you a bonk on the  head whenever you sinfully disrespected the Mass by giggling or forgetting to kneel at the appropriate time.

Because of the extensiveness of this hierarchy perception of  what God might have meant by 'sin', the understanding and meaning of it   would likely change and even become distorted as it made its way down the chain of judges.  Sin could  change from place to place and person to person.

A lot of individual 'judgment' is infused into the traditional version of sin. Moses laid down the laws as directed by God  but man expanded on those commandments  with his own interpretation and his own judgment and his own means of punishment.  Sins after all have to be punished. . . .

The punishment

In societal terms...this interpretation of sin gets muted and distorted from culture to culture leading to social sanctions and laws for the cultural community it is expressed in. Many of these laws are still based on religious influences of that area. And of course, if you break the law there is punishment by law.

Well the punishment in metaphysical terms for sin is different than that of the law. It involves  further staining on your soul.  The punishment is a  deep seated sense of shame and unworthiness that you will be expected to  carry forever and that will trickle into all avenues of your life.  The punishment is this sense of isolation and separation from God...this being pulled away from Source.  The punishment lies in  not being accepted or maybe  even rejected  by the One that is everything. 

The punishment is fear.  Sin brings the devil and the devil, sin. The devil  is the entity that symbolizes the 'evil' and 'demonic quality of sin.  It represents, I believe, man's internal conflict with fear. Sin means man, knowing it or not,  is choosing hell over heaven, fear over Love. That type of damnation  punishment is very destructive to peace and happiness, to say the least.

Repent


There is a so called hope though in this belief system...not for ridding one's self from sin altogether, that  stain on the Soul, according to certain religions,  can not be wiped clean with any amount of Shout... but penance could lessen  the effect sin had on your life  and more importantly  after death.  The message is: "Maybe, you will never get close to God now but after you die there may be a room for You in that big house of His...if you follow the repenting protocol."

Every tradition has their own idea of how to repent.  I spent hours in the confessional as a kid and consequently hours on my knees saying the Hail Mary because I said the  Lord's name in vain or spit on my brother after he drew freckles over my favorite doll's face.  Was this penance working?  Did it cleanse me?  Was I really that 'dirty' to begin with?

Penance can differ from one faith tradition to another. Whether it is through karma or confession...the idea is to clean the soul as much as possible...though the original stain may never be removed in this life time. Heaven will never be attained until after the body dies and only if  you repented in the 'right way'.

Do we truly understand the meaning of 'Sin'?

 Do you know what the  earliest biblical translations of this Hebrew word chait, where sin is said to come from, actually means?  It means to miss the mark...to miss in reference to aiming a sling shot.  How did we get what we know it as now, out of that? 

Did we blow the translation out of proportion or what? How did we bring the devil and eternal damnation into a reference of  being a bit off target with the sling shot?   Who is responsible for that connotation?  Certainly not God.

We make mistakes as human beings.  Not saying what we do is right, not saying that it is wrong.  I am not even saying that even minor infractions don't  deserve punishment. Yet is the way we view 'Sin' and its consequences totally realistic , when what was actually meant was a missed target?

Many of us  are off target in our lives...We are away from the target...that alignment with God.  We do things that may cause pain to others. We go a bit too far off the course or way too far and that is 'a mistake!'  A great big one many times! 

Why do we miss the mark? Probably because we are not seeing or thinking clearly.  That is what sin is. Sin is not thinking or seeing clearly enough to hit the mark!

 "Sin is insanity.  It is the means by which the mind is driven mad, and seeks to let illusions take the place of truth." ACIM-W-4. What is sin?-1:1-2

Do we truly understand the meaning of Repent?

The word repent comes from a Greek translation meaning basically, 'a change of heart or to perceive differently'.  Wow!   If that is what it means, we simply need to change our minds...stop thinking in the illusionary way we are and to be willing to perceive differently in order to 'pay for our sins'..  We do not have to bargain over heaven and hell, to walk around carrying this heavy cross of shame.  Do we?

We are told that if we repent in certain self-punishing ways we will be worthy enough to get closer to God. What good does the self loathing, the shame, this sense of unworthiness do for us, others or God anyway?  Does it help us get closer to God and to each other?  Certainly not.  It creates separation and isolation.

Isn't this true?:

 Whoever does not love, does not know God, for God is Love. 1John 4:8 NIV

So if this is true and we reach out with a fear of damnation  in our hearts, are we repenting with a desire for God's forgiveness out of love  or are we repenting for fear of God's wrath and further separation? Is our idea of 'sin' and 'penance' promoting fear or love?

Wouldn't we do more good if we loved?  Wouldn't we be able to do more of God's work if we could put that sense of unworthiness away?  Wouldn't we do more for the world if we were happier and more peaceful?  Isn't that what God truly wants for us...for us to love ourselves and each other?

Do you think a better tool to repent with then...could be a change in perception? Should we be focusing more on  changing how we perceive the world instead of shuffling around with heads down chanting, "Unclean!  Unclean!"

Instead of seeing  the world through eyes of fear we could learn to see it  with hearts full of love.  Instead of seeing and judging sin and a case for damnation everywhere...we could see God's love in everyone including ourselves. Wouldn't that somehow be more in tune with what God wanted for us?

Knowing what both biblical  words actually pointed to before man got it all mixed up  in translation can certainly make us feel a lot better...and it can certainly make our loads a lot lighter.  Couldn't it?

How Sin relates to Entropy

The two terms  relate in a very round about way and probably only in my mind. lol

Well...in entropy we have chaos and we too often see chaos as sinful.  If  we have chaos and unpredictability  in our lives we may feel shame and guilt like I do because we can't control it! We are all familiar with another big error in interpretation from the bible that became a very common cliché that supports the notion of resisting entropy, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness."

Do I need a confessional or a string of prayers to recite as penance for my lack of 'Godliness' ? To 'repent'...all I really need to do is see differently and to fill my heart with love instead of fear. I need to change the way I see myself and the world.

I am not 'sinful' because of the perception of chaos in my life situation...I am just seeing unclearly.  Through a change in perception,  I will see that what I look upon with my body's eyes isn't chaos after all...but God's Will which I will someday realize is my own.

So that is where the similarity comes into play. 


All is well in my world!

References

ACIM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metanoia_(theology)

http://www.aish.com/jl/p/ph/48964596.html

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+4%3A8&version=NIV