I’ve been thinking lately about SIN – that old favorite device that pits the virtuous against the rest of us.
Growing up in the evangelical church, I was terrified of Sin – there was an overwhelming sense that there was nothing I could do to stop it – that it was always right there waiting to pounce on me. That no matter what I did, how much I tried to be a good person – there was always a sin following me around. We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of god afterall.
This weekend I’m leaving my apartment that I’ve lived in for 7 years.
It’s hard. Harder than I expected it to be.
The reasons I’m leaving are all so expansive and good. In the past several months I’ve bought a house, I got engaged, and I’m moving on to a whole new phase of life. I’m deeply excited about the future, but as the move gets close I’m also discovering more and more sadness around saying goodbye. Not just to my apartment, but to a whole phase of life.
When I talk to people about their spiritual practice, one of the big complaints I hear frequently is “how do I integrate my practice into my daily life?”
I hear this from meditators, but also from other types of spiritual practitioners – it’s as if we have two lives, our spiritual lives and our regular going to work, taking care of kids, doing grocery shopping and sitting in traffic lives.
On a level everyone knows that’s not true, that it’s all the same – but we experience it as separate. It’s not that nuts then to want to integrate things together, to be able to hold that peace of practice (whatever it is) – as we move through the world. I mean, isn’t that the point?
the Good Heretic 