Were you born an Episcopalian, or something else? What has your faith journey been like? Honey Boo Boo? The Real Housewives of Someplace? Duck Dynasty? Have you ever been to Europe? Hiked the Appalachian Trail? Driven across the country just for fun? Where did you go to college, and what classes did you enjoy most? Who are your heroes? When did you first feel the call to be a priest? Are you a good dancer? Can you carry a tune? Are you named after someone? Do you have a favorite hymn or a favorite Bible verse?
Cat person or dog person? Because of that, a lot of the opinions and judgments people have about you are extremely negative. There is so much anger and confusion and hurt surrounding the whole situation. It was really, really bad. But you know that. I know firsthand what shame and guilt can do to a person, and I have no desire to contribute to whatever vortex of shame you have swirling around inside you right now.
Or, God forbid, a cat or a dog. Just killing a squirrel would probably be enough to scar me for life. Granted, all of us do horrible things, to varying extents, but none of us are horrible people. Bear with me. That actually sounds a lot like the sin against the Holy Spirit, at least the way I understand it.
You are not your alcoholism. You are not the blood on your tires or the liquor on your breath or the addicted neuron pathways in your brain. You are not the news headlines or the angry blog posts or the Facebook comments. You are not the opinions and judgments that anyone—including me—has of you.
You are not your sin. You are not your shame. Nothing you have done or ever could do has the power to change that. I mean, look at King David. Not exactly the most upstanding guy, right? All ten of them. Probably committed all seven deadly sins too. But how do we remember him? How did the Israelites remember him?
