The Perception of Sin

I don't think in my heart that most people are bad, evil, out to get you. I just can't be that cynical.

I think that given the situation, most people do what they think is right and they do the wrong thing because:

1. They think it is actually the right thing, but they don't have the information to know that it is the wrong thing. They literally know not what they do.
2. They realize it is the wrong thing, but think that the circumstances don't make it a wrong thing so they think the wrong thing is the right thing.
3. They know it is the wrong thing but think that the wrong thing is going to pay off better than the right thing because they don't understand why the right thing is the right thing and why it is so much better than the wrong thing.
4. They know the wrong thing is the wrong thing and just don't care because the consequences seem too distant.

Now the worst is obviously number four. I think in each of these cases you have people who want to do the right thing in the end, but there is some lack of information, some lack of realization that is keeping them from that.

For example, what excuse did you make for not praying today? You didn't think it would impact your day that much? You were too busy with other things? You knew if you prayed then it would take time away from something materially productive tht you could measure? You don't think prayer does anything?

Apply this to any situation.

Now look at the other people in your life. Why have they not had the same spiritual experience as you? Why are they not as passionate about the faith as you are?

Could it possibly be that they don't have the same life experience that you do and hence do not feel the sense of importance that you do about the faith? How can you convey that to them so that they do?

Somehow we have to live in such a way that changes the circumstances so that people realize how good the good is and how bad the bad is. Yet the only thing that we can change is ourselves and our own actions.

To be frustrated by the things we cannot control means we are getting caught up in the wrong thing.

Which means we are in the same boat as everyone else.

Be the circumstances that show the right thing is the best thing. Live it.