SATURDAY, June 19

Romans 3:9-20. Are we any better off? No, not at all; for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin.

Our prisons are full of men and women who have been told they were bad for as long as they can remember. Though you don't have to be in prison to know people who will tell you how, all their life, someone--maybe everyone--told them they'd never amount to anything, that they were worthless, miserable, stupid, ugly, dirty.

What do they call it? Original sin? Why not just Born Bad? What good can come out of a belief in an inherent dirtiness? Don't get me wrong--I'm all for admitting our powerlessness and limitations, even our darkness. I know that, without God, I am nothing. I understand the thinking behind this doctrine and I agree with the part of it that says we need God. We do. Badly.

However, there is another doctrine, not so widely circulated. Its Latin name is imago Dei. It focuses on our being made in the image of God. What about that? We like to say, "I'm only human," as a means of excusing our mistakes. What if, instead, we picked ourselves up, dusted off the seat of our pants, and said, "I'll get this right. After all, I'm imprinted with the divine"?

Most of us already know how bad we are. We need to learn how good we are. (2002)

PRAY for the Diocese of Doko (Nigeria)

Ps 87, 90 * 136; Numbers 13:31-14:25; Matthew 19:1-12

View the daily Lectionary Readings at Satucket.com.
Or view the Bible passages at Biblegateway.com.

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