(http://www.jubileecircleucc.com/index.shtml)
I've known Candace a number of years. (I won't say how many.) She has been a light for gays and lesbians seeking love and acceptance in a world not so very nice to them. Over the years, she has offered hope to those dangling in the inbetween place of wanting to have a relationship with God and knowing they are not accepted by their families nor church families.
I've often said to people who want to put labels on me, "No, I am not a sinnner. I was not born in 'original sin'. I was born in amazing grace." If one truly believes in the saving power of Jesus, then one has no issue with original sin. One only needs to feel the love of Grace.
Take a moment to read her blog. And if you feel blessed, read her others. She never fails to cause me to think. And I always walk away feeling blessed. If you're ever in Columbia, SC, check out Jubilee Circle UCC. I promise you will enjoy yourself.
Spiritual Apocalypse
What I Mean When I Say: “We are not sinners”
When I say we are not sinners I don’t mean that we never mess up or are blameless for the mistakes we make. When I say we are not sinners, I mean that the Christ consciousness that resides within each of us, that true self, knows nothing about sin. It’s a foreign concept to our divine self.
So, why do we “sin” then? We sin because we get caught up in the lie that the ego is our true self. We play not just the ego’s game in our personal lives, but we play the ego’s larger, corporate game that has created a world of greed and inequality. In this illusory world, those who get ahead are the ones who have given in to the fear-based life of the ego – the fear that they don’t have enough, aren’t talented, beautiful or loved enough. This is the fear that tells us that others will take what we have and we’ll have nothing. This is the world the ego lives in — a world of fear, scarcity, anger, shame and greed.
In this ego-driven world, we are, indeed, sinners, but that word has become so loaded down with useless moralistic meanings. Instead, it’s better to say that we’re mistaken, we’re hoodwinked, brain-washed, by the cult of the ego — that cult that says we need more stuff outside of us, and that the only authority that means anything is outside of us in the form of governments, churches, institutions, bosses, parents, spouses or even total strangers.
Our divine self, however, is innocent. Sin isn’t known in this realm, and every mistake we make in service to the ego is already forgiven, washed away by the infinite love offered to us by the Holy.
The only salvation we need is awakening — that realization that the ego world is not the real world. That realization that collectively, we can create another world that is driven by love and compassion instead of fear and greed.
The only true sin we ever commit is the belief that we are separate from God. Again, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we ARE God, I’m saying we are one with the force of life that runs in, through and around this universe. Just like a drop of water is not the ocean, it is still a part of the larger whole.
That is what we are, a drop of God in an ocean of holiness.
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