People often talk of the cosmic battle that goes on between good and evil, as if it is somewhere else apart from our own lives. As if forces outside of ourselves were seeking us out. Perhaps there is truth to that; however it is the human heart, each one wherein the battle takes place. As we age, I feel that the interior battle increases, though the development of habits or virtues over the course of life is one our main defenses against the irrational and destructive that lay within. Our cultures I believe mirror this irrational component of ourselves back to us. We are responsible for the state of the world, people, not institutions which are used to fulfill the desire for power and control over others, by whom (?) well by people of course. To blame some group, be it religious or political for the woes of the world is a cop out, a failure to understand what lies within each heart.

Sin, the failure to live according to ones conscience is real and the harm and chaos that it causes is a reality that many would like to deny. I am a sinner, there is much in me that is irrational, violent and fearful and anxious. Sin is an attempt to control life by running from it, yet in the end, the fruit is terrible and it shows in how our actions and laziness affect the culture around us. To seek to escape the reality of life through the running from the inner pain, in the end, only increases our sorrow and alienation.

Mercy, given freely, allows us always to begin again and again if necessary. The main sin, or temptation, is to simply give up, when that happens there is only despair and a self created hell that ceases to love or care for self, or others. It is never too late to start, each moment a new beginning, for the mercy that calls is infinite and the love of God is without depth or ending. When we actually understand what this mercy is, and its cost, then we are healed on many levels and then we to can become of vessels of healing and mercy for others. No need to look down on others; for then they all becomes our brothers and sisters on the way who simply have the same struggles we do.