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Sin is Soooo Boring!

  • FATHER DWIGHT LONGENECKER

OK. I admit it, and I'm sure every other priest will admit it too.


confession789We get bored in the confessional.

Don't get me wrong.  I am not bored by people.  I love people and am endlessly fascinated by people.  People aren't boring.  Their problems aren't boring.

But sin is boring.  Really.

To be honest, there really aren't that many sins.  Satan can't create anything.  All he can do is destroy or distort all that God has made that is beautiful, good and true.

I believe in original sin, but there's nothing original about sin.  It's dull.  It's derivative.  It's deadly.

This is one of the devil's main lies.  He dresses sin up to make it attractive and he tells us that holiness is boring and dull.  Some religious people are without doubt very dull and boring, but the saints are not.  The saints are endlessly alive, creative and amazing human beings.

But the devil dresses up sin to try to make it attractive and seductive, but it is not just putting lipstick on a pig, it's worse than that.  It's adding syrup to cyanide.

"Here.  Taste this you'll like it!" he says.  "Just a spoonful of syrup helps the cyanide go down!"

The way Satan dresses up sin reminds me of one of these ancient hags who have had endless face lifts and have slapped on the make up and a ghastly wig, pulled on some hot pants and some low cut top to stand on the corner and pout.  The guy pulls up thinking it is a sexy babe and she turns out to be a clapped out old harridan.

That's why sin is not only boring.  It's sad.

What to do about it?  Pray to God that he will renew your heart and mind so that you see reality.  Pray that you will see sin for the sad, boring, dead dull and distorted thing that it really is.  Regard it as you would a dead rat — with disgust and horror.

Pray also that you will see and know and come to love the radiant beauty of goodness.  Pray that you might come to know, understand and love the joyous power of goodness.

Pray that you might run on the path of God's commandments with your heart overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love.

This is Meaghen Gonzalez, Editor of CERC. I hope you appreciated this piece. We curate these articles especially for believers like you.

Please show your appreciation by making a $3 donation. CERC is entirely reader supported.

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Acknowledgement

longenecker Father Dwight Longenecker. "Sin is Soooo Boring!" Patheos (Standing on My Head) (Nov. 4, 2016).

Reprinted with permission from Father Dwight Longenecker. See the original article here.

Standing on my head is the blog of Father Longenecker on Patheos.

The Author

hydratinyFather Dwight Longenecker serves as the pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary parish in Greenville, South Carolina. Father Longenecker studied for the Anglican ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and served for ten years in the Anglican ministry as a curate, a chaplain at Cambridge and a country parson. In 1995 he and his family were received into full communion with the Catholic Church. He is the author of more than twenty books including: Beheading Hydra, Praying the Rosary for Inner Healing, Listen My Son: St. Benedict for Fathers, More Christianity, Challenging Catholics: A Catholic Evangelical Dialogue, St. Benedict and St. Therese: The Little Rule & the Little Way, Mary: A Catholic-Evangelical Debate, and The Path to Rome. You can follow his writings, listen to his podcasts, join his online courses, browse his books, and be in touch at DwightLongenecker.com.

Copyright © 2016 Father Dwight Longenecker

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