The Meaning of Sin

Journey to Oneness are wisdom words from Fr. Thomas Keating spoken during the filming of his last DVD series That We May Be One in July 2016. Some are included in the series; others are from footage published here for the first time. A new word will be posed every Monday throughout the year. May they serve to inspire hope and lift your heart.

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Belief then in creation is one side of the foundation of the spiritual journey. At the same time it’s trusting all our failings to God with confidence. So, it’s this balance between our fallen nature and our destiny that has now been given the power through Christ in his Resurrection and the gift of the Spirit to be able to function without dependence on weaknesses and the wrong attitudes of the un-evolved side of our nature. So, it’s helpful to the study of the literal sense of the words in the Gospel. For example, sin really means “missing the mark.” It’s not necessarily a question of guilt or shame. It’s simply that you missed. And that’s to be expected – it’s taken from archery – if I miss again, fine, I’ll try again. So, you don’t expect to succeed, but you try. And it’s that trying with many failures that gradually gains at least a reduction in the obstacles to divine union.

El significado de “pecado”

Creer, entonces, en la creación es solo un aspecto de la travesía espiritual. A la vez significa entregar confiadamente todas nuestras fallas a Dios. Entonces, se trata de un equilibrio entre nuestra naturaleza, que ha caído,  y nuestro destino, al que ahora le ha sido dado el poder por medio de Cristo en su Resurrección y el don del Espíritu, para poder funcionar sin dependencias, debilidades, o actitudes erróneas del lado no evolucionado de nuestra naturaleza. Por eso nos ayuda estudiar el sentido literal de las palabras en el Evangelio.

Por ejemplo, “pecado” en realidad significa “no dar en el blanco.” No es necesariamente cuestión de culpa o vergüenza. Simplemente hemos errado. Y eso es de esperar – es tomado del tiro con arco: si nuevamente no doy en el blanco, está bien, lo intentaré una vez más. Por lo tanto, no esperamos tener éxito, pero lo intentamos. Y son esos intentos y sus muchos fracasos los que gradualmente provocan al menos una reducción de los obstáculos a la divina unión.