How to Be a Sinner

Seraphim of Sarov, who lived at the turn of the 19th century, observed, “We condemn others only because we shun knowing ourselves.”

Our inmost self is good and true. We are not totally depraved. But we are deeply confused. And sin is there to confuse us.

It also denotes wholeness, or whole-mindedness, because our goal not to further fragment ourselves (“here’s my good self, here’s my bad self”) but to be whole persons. It is this whole person—and not some kind of pious created persona—who presents himself before God in prayer.

By focusing on the spirit as much as on the letter of the law, his commandments become part of a whole way of life, informed foremost by love.

Living with and living into another’s total love—especially God’s—is painfully humbling.

That means that we might reduce by at least one person—ourself—the number of judgmental and resentful Christians, which is surely a worthy goal!

the Church’s reminders of our sinfulness are at loggerheads with our current society, which encourages self-empowerment, accepting ourselves, and abolishing negative thoughts or language about ourselves.

If we preserve, as we should, that purity of heart, the watch and guard of the intellect . . . this will not only uproot all passions and evils from our hearts; it will also introduce joy, hopefulness, compunction, sorrow, tears, an understanding of ourselves and of our sins, mindfulness of death, true humility, unlimited love of God and man, and a

During the Canon of Repentance3 we pray “Give me understanding, O Lord, that I may weep bitterly over my deeds.” The reason we want this understanding so much that we pray for it, is that it constitutes true perception of reality. That perception brings inner freedom, compassion, and the freedom from judging others.