Sin And The Archer
The English word "SIN" is actually a term rooted in the ancient Greek and taken from archery. SIN simply means, failing to hit the intended target. It means being less than perfect. What is does NOT mean is that you’re a criminal, or an evil person; it just means you need more practice to get it right. The Greek word for this is "hamartia" and means "missing the mark." During the ancient archery games, if the Archer missed the target, the crowd would yell "hamartia." The MARK was where the arrow was aimed for (a GOOD shot). If it landed anywhere else, it was BAD, or evil.
This, we should find comforting. Imagine now what we call God or Source within us (our instinctual GPS) as a loving archery instructor or Teacher, standing close as you draw the bow, his hand steadying yours, whispering in your ear, “A bit higher, a bit further up, hold it steady. Now!” And ... if you miss the mark ... then simply try again.
You see, it makes no sense when people assume that their "success" in life is as a direct result of God blessing them (entitlement), because it then implies the opposite: the "lack of success" would then be "God" witholding his blessing from others who are NOT successful. It also makes no sense when people take their good health as a sign that God or Source is favouring them because that then says that - ill health - is God NOT favouring one who is ill. The same with thanking God or Source for the food on our table. Being in a state of thankfulness and thanksgiving is fine, but if you're thanking Deity for providing YOU with food, what about the other millions of people who go hungry? Has God walked out on them and favoured you?
Being alive is our blessing. LIFE is our gift. I’m not saying that God isn’t blessing us when things go well. After all, the Greek word for "blessing" is "eulogia" which means to speak highly of someone ... as in a Eulogy spoken at a loved one's funeral. It is US using the power of God / Life within, to bring about goodness through karma ... Cause and Effect. Karma simply means DOING. Therefore, the results of something are our collective doing. But God has no favourites. Even the OT Bible records "God is no respecter of persons." Blessing or cursing, it may be the same thing when you step out of time and out of being human. Good and bad are perspectives ... Polarities of One principle. We need to stop worrying about punishment and reward, and concentrate on just experiencing the NOW. Enjoy the moment. THIS moment. We're here to learn and discern ... And we are here to RE-member what we already know.
For me, being a "sinner" is a very good thing. It means there's room for improvement ... and I AM here to remember the Truth of all things. We must learn and practice the immutable Universal Laws of the YOUniverse. To "transgress" the Law is to go against what IS, and align with what IS NOT. It means I need to keep practicing and spending time with our Inner Trainer - The Voice of Wisdom & Truth - Our Higher-Self, and learning more and more how to hit the target ... and aim at the right one. Remember, even when we get good at that, there is always room for improvement. We need to realize that "sin" is not actually the thing we were taught it was ... and it was taught to us by people who didn’t completely understand it themselves. Question everything, and spend time studying the Universal Laws of the Universe.
Just a thought ...
~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.
