Oh yeah that's.....

This morning I tried to do a small intervention- to tell a friend that her dwelling on how others have failed and are failing to support her is harming her physical and spiritual health- compounding injury with injury. 

She listened well for the most part but at a certain point she became a bit defensive and said something critical of me. This triggered some old feelings I had about her behaviour from the past that I hadn't let go of and I needed to take a moment to breathe and try to let go of the anger arising. 

And then I thought: "oh yeah, that's ....original sin. 

Now, don't get me wrong: I don't claim to understand the full picture of what original sin is. The way I tend to think about it is as less of a biological inheritance and more of a ricochet. 

Original sin is transmitted through our relationships. It's the ricochet of violence, of anger, of judgement, of exploitation and blindness. 

The way that Jesus saves from original sin is first of all in His own refusal to condemn- his absorbing of the ricochets into Himself and offering forgiveness and reconciliation in their place. Once we accept this forgiveness we begin to be able to extend it to others. This creates a kind of counter-ricochet, an undoing of the web of original sin. 

In the words of JD Grear's "Gospel Prayer":

As you have been to me

So I will be to others.

It seems to me that it all starts from there.