My Sins Run Out Behind Me

Sadly, I am a skilled gardener.

Too often I have potted life in the rich soils of poor judgements. This dirt I have watered well and fertilized frequently. Criticisms I became familiar with, my goings out and my comings in; harsh thoughts the fodder of my mind. The unkind, but not unheard, depths of my soul bloomed.

However, I am now reminded of a woman caught in adultery. (Enjoy this wonderful story of grace in John 8:1-11.) Jesus spoke in soft words and generous spirit to her. His appeal to her was to discontinue sin, but not to criticise the sinner. (Satan would have condemned her with his prompt and usual thoroughness already).

The true story is told of a senior Coptic monk named Abba Moses.

Abba Moses is invited by a monastic council to preside over a sinner. He refuses to attend. The council prevails upon him, and he reverses his decision. But before leaving his home he takes a leaking jug, and fills it with water. As he strolls though the ancient dust the jug slowly leaks behind him. On arriving at the council he is questioned, What is this father?

The elderly priest replies:

My sins run out behind me and I do not see them, and I am coming to judge the errors of another?#

The observation is true:

It is folly for a man who has a dead person in his house to leave him there, and go and weep over his neighbor's dead.#

I have cast myself as judge when really I am the accused.

O Lord that I would grasp my sin so deeply as to weep, that I could never see the sin in another again. - Amen

Today's Soul Snippet:

In solitude God dismantles my scaffolding.

Love this SoulSnack? - PLEASE feel free to share it with a friend, post it on a blog page, on a website or share it on social media. 

ENJOY - Heaven's Harbors from MyParable

#This anecdote and quote are reproduced from Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart ~ (NY HarperOne, 1981), 36