Traveling Mercies

To be honest, I've read several books since I've read this one, and have forgotten to post on any of them. Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott, I would characterize as the story of her faith journey. She is very forthright in this book, you get to see the good and bad in her life and she doesn't candy coat any of it. This is definitely not your typical Christian Bookstore fare (Some of the four letter words probably got it banned). I personally could relate to much of her background, given my background and family, so I really enjoyed the story of her faith journey, and enjoyed reading about some of the insights that she gained along the way. Life can be hard, and Anne definitely has been right in the middle of some very painful situations. A close friend dying of cancer, and one of her son's playmates diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis just to name a few.

There are a few quotes in the book that she is known for. One of them being, "Unforgiveness is like eating rat poison, and waiting for the rat to die". Beyond that, I think I'll leave the rest for you to discover for yourself, should you dare to read it :-).

Holy

OK, you probably aren't going to believe me, so start reading. What are you not going to believe? Just this -- that sin and holiness are not opposites. OK, go back and start reading again. Did you notice that lots of places and inanimate objects get called holy? Can inanimate objects sin? So if inanimate objects can't sin and yet they can be holy, then holiness must be something other than some sort of moral, or personal character trait. I know that some of you do know the answer to what holiness is already don't you. You know that holiness is about being separate, distinct and, in the case of items, set aside for special use by God. And when the angels cry "holy! holy! holy!", the are proclaiming Gods special uniqueness. The only uncreated, self-sustaining, truly independent being that exists. We are made of the stuff of this universe (atoms if you like), God is not.

So are you wondering what is the opposite of sin? Well if sin is breaking the law, and love (agape) fulfills the law then it would be love wouldn't it? Or since the law points us to the greater reality of love, then you could say that to sin is to break agape, or to not love.

Well, I hope that is a big paradigm shift for you (unless you already knew this), it certainly was for me :-)