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ear Miracles: This week is Holy Week for Christians, and everyone I have spoken to has been feeling a heavy spirit in the air. Some react by getting sad, others by getting mad, but there is some “funk” out there. Part of it is mercury, finally, thank heavens, going direct today-but some of it has to do with the energy or egregore around this week-millions of people around the world are participating in the Passion right along with Jesus Christ. Whether you are a Christian or not, my guess is that you have family, friends, colleagues, neighbors who do identify as such-and to think that their intense energy is not effecting your own…well, let’s just remember we are all, all of us, connected. There are so many things that I could write about when looking at Easter/Ostara, the cycle of the life/death/life God as depicted in the story of Christ (as well as much older stories like that of Tammuz, Osiris, and Dionysus) but for today’s post I am going to hone in on a subject that makes many of us, quite frankly uncomfortable…sin.
Sin comes from the ancient Greek word ἁμαρτία meaning literally “to miss the mark” as in aiming for a target and falling short. Now meditate on that for a moment. Drop everything you think you know about the word and concept sin-the guilt, the shame, your mom/pastor/grandpa telling you something about yourself was wrong, bad, sinful…and consider the idea of taking aim and…missing–we’ve all done it right? We’ve all been there, not because of the way we were born, or our gender, or sexual preferences, or desires-but because its life and sometimes we just fall short.
Maybe it happened because our vision wavered and was not locked in on the target, or because our tools were not of the right kind, or because the target is not worthy of our attention in the first place. When we peel back the layers and get back to the root idea of sin, the idea of error, of missing the mark, I think it becomes clear that there is something here for all of us. In the story of Christ as in the older stories that follow the same path, there is a moment where all sin is redeemed, forgiven, washed away and cleansed. By analogy, our vision is cleared, our aim is steadied, our target still, waiting, and available.
The mystery is that hitting the mark depends on our ability to surrender, to sacrifice–as in “to make sacred”, to give our best with open hearted immediacy.
I leave you with the following questions to consider-hold them in your heart, or comment at the bottom of this post-my ears and eyes are open to receive:
–where have you missed the mark?
–why did you-were you distracted, unsteady, uncommitted?
–what is the best of yourself right now, today?
–who can you share that with?