Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Thank God for Sinners

Do you know the kind of people I like to be around?  Moderately honest sinners.  They're the best.  They're people just being who they are, trying for happiness, trying to extract meaning from life.  Sometimes they'll lie about it, but you can always tell, and you're glad for it.  They're sinners, they know it.  "Sin" just means to miss the mark, but the impressive thing is that they're taking a shot at it.  Some of them are atheists and Christian and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and I'm sure there are others too.  They're straight and gay, single, married, divorced.  Some are rich, some are poor.  Some are really nice and a lot of fun, some are real jerks and total bores.  Every once in a while they'll try on the suit of a prefabricated persona, just for a break from the chore it is to discover their own, but you can always tell that it doesn't quite fit, and you appreciate them for it.  They can't even do that right, thank God.  Somehow we've been convinced to applaud the story book successes and then we use them to measure our own happiness.  But I've changed my perspective and have come to see that the sinners and strugglers really show us the glory of what it is to be human and how precious is a person with personal passions and heart longing for happiness and purpose.