In Hebrew, the word for sin translates as “missing the mark.” What a far cry from the first definition of I found when I consulted Mr. Bing: “an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law.” (yuck!!!)
In our culture sin has moved from being confessional (I have sinned) to accusatory (You have sinned). Which is really more pleasant, isn’t it? I mean, I think we’d all rather that someone else transgresses divine law than our doing it, right? Everything might go horribly wrong, but life is filled with practice shots. It’s pretty easy to sit and point at the person you’ve identified as the bad apple.
Missing the mark is different. Missing the mark is so forgiving. It’s not that you didn’t miss the mark and that you will want to consider why and how. If you hurt people, apologize and learn to do better. The response to missing the mark is to try again. When I hear missing the mark, I think, archery or gymnastics (let’s be clear, neither of which I do). You can recover from missing the mark. You can easily better yourself if you simply practice. Shoot the arrow, again and again. Work the movement and land it. I can get better. After all, who simply declares themselves a Peacemaker and then spends the entirety of their life about being right? No one. For the rest of our lives, we’ll be practicing doing Justice, Mercy, and walking humbly in this world. The more we do it, the better we get. Do the work, get the Joy.
But if we look at mistakes in the guise of sinning, we’re just chalking up black marks. That leaves us with only a few options, all of which are uncomfortable. We can do whatever it is we’ve deemed sinful and lie about it; we can do whatever and blame someone else for sucking us into it; or we can just stop experimenting and reaching and lead boring, judgey little lives. None of those choices seem like good ones, and all of them lead to our not experiencing the vast array of Marvelous Possibilities in this World.
Missing the mark focusses on what we can do. How we, you and I, can make Peace — as individuals, as families, as communities. How we are creative. Thought leaders are clear — if we don’t make mistakes, miss the mark, fall short or even fail spectacularly, we’re not going to grow into our full humanity, we’re not going to succeed at that thing that is the best reflection of who we are meant to be. We’re not going to push the boundaries, discover new worlds or lost ones. We’re not going to write a symphony or raise happy families. We’re not going to stand up for Peace in a threatening, narrowing world.
Missing the mark makes place for forgiveness — forgiving ourselves, and forgiving others. It makes place for asking for forgiveness and making amends. When you look at this world out of control, can you doubt that this is what is needed? Trying again, trying new ways, inviting others to experiment with you, improving on what’s already been working well — these are some of the ways of finding small Peace accords and building them into something much larger.
I’ve been thinking a lot about my Gladly Beyond Post which, so far, has been my most read/most commented on post. I love that Picture and I love having made that jump into the reality of a very cold Antarctic Sea. So many things could have gone wrong. They didn’t that time. But this is what I have to remember. Now, aged 73, I have to take advantage of the opportunities to leap available to me — In some ways, though not all, I’m a leapy kinda Woman. It has served me well, and I’ve had great adventures. I’ll have more Peace adventures, that’s for sure.
However, that’s not every time. Sometimes I land with a splat, sometimes I get into the very cold water and forget all the things I was told to do. Then it really helps to have a Dr. Mike to holler your name and tell you to breathe. Even if you think you did, go ahead, do it again! Always take that opportunity to breathe.
Give yourself a little Grace, will you? We all do things that don’t work out. So, we’ll have to try again and work harder and smarter. Sometimes you have to lie around in the midst of everything you messed up, and figure out what’s next. There is a next. If you want, there’s a better version of you. If you want, there’s a Peacemaker inside you. I’ve glimpsed that in you. I believe in you and your Peacemaking. Even if this is a BIG misstep, fact is, this may be the worst one, but it wasn’t the first, and it won’t be the last. You’ll learn from it. And in the meantime, you are still loved. We know you. We see you. We’re applauding your learning to do better so the next steps are easier. The Peace Path is wide. It is forgiving. So, c’mon along. There’s got to be a place to stop for a snack up ahead. In the meantime, you can talk about the splat if you want to, or simply practice having a normal conversation that means you are forgiving yourself, vowing to do better, and beginning again in Love.
Salaam, Shalom, Peace, Blessed Be.