October 26, 2007
-
Saints and Sinners
I was rereading an old favorite, a Michael Connelly detective novel about Harry Bosch… when I came across this conversation, about a tattoo of a devil with halo on it:
“He ever tell you where he got [the tattoo], what it means?”
“He told me he got it in the village he grew up in. He was a boy. Actually, it was a barrio. I guess. They called it Saints and Sinners. That’s what the tattoo means. Saints and Sinners. He said that was because the people that lived there didn’t know which they were, which they would be.”I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I have made a real effort over the last 10 years to become a good person. But I know I could just as easily be a Sinner. There’s nothing in my moral fabric that is inherently Good… it’s a conscious decision I make every day, to do the right thing. Sometimes I wonder if it’s the right decision. But if I thought about it too much, I’d probably become a Sinner.
Are you a Saint or a Sinner?
Comments (41)
Sinner. No question.
Both. I am equally capable of either. (Goodness is a choice, like you said.) I try to tip the scales to the goodness side, though.
Xinner. I confess.
sainner
Sinner. But saved by grace. And now a saint.
I think Paul (from Tarsus) got it right… we all sin.
We’re all sinners. I believe what scifi_ffish said ^^ up there.
I’m a saint.
What kind of definition are you using? By societal standards, I’m most definitely a saint. But to use the Biblical definition (and of course, I take that as the right one), I am a sinner. We are all sinners.
By the way – I may or may not be following up on that call for help on the web engineering presentation…
ditto on scifi_ffish
Sinner, completely.
Sinner by nature, and sometimes by choice.
Hey, sorry for being off-topic, but…
Just to let you know, the new Private home page’s “feedback” link is still broken:
The text: It’s still in beta, so please let us know what you think
The link: http://weblog.xanga.com/TheXangaTeam/621728414/unified-feedback-page.html
Entry doesn’t exist, so redirects to xanga.com/TheXangaTeam
Thanks.
And sinner. X)
Theologically I am supposed to claim I am a saint in the sense in which the bible describes all Christians as saints. I am a Christian but at some level I feel more comfortable claiming sinner.
sinner, but hope to be a saint
it is by choosing that you redeem yourself. just my opinion.
I really like that image.
Why can’t you be both and more?
This post inspired a poem
(at least the beginnings of one)
Thanks
Most of us try very hard to be ‘good’ but we all sin. That’s why they have churches, not for saints but sinners.
Granny always said: “There’s enough bad in all of us and enough good in most of us that we need religion and law for all of us”.
Saint. If I’m a sinner saved by grace, then I’m not a sinner anymore.
Good book. Good series, actually.
Do you watch Lost? There was an episode this past season in which Desmond had a dream or vision or whatever and saw Charlie playing guitar on a street corner. He had his name on a piece of cardboard. His middle name was Hieronymous. I couldn’t help thinking of Harry Bosch and the painter Hieronymous Bosch, who painted scenes of heaven, hell, and purgatory…
Neither, I am me.
I tend to think of a sinner as somebody who lives without compassion and as a saint as somebody who lives with compassion. I hope to be remembered as a saint despite my fears I may be remembered as a sinner.
Sinner, but I would like to continually move toward the good….
Depends on which definition you use.
Sinner, most def.
Hi John! Long time, no see…how are you?
No saints no sinners no devil as well. No pearly gates no thorny crown, You’re always letting us humans down. The wars you bring the babes you drown.
And if you’re up there you’d perceive, That my heart’s here upon my sleeve. If there’s one thing I don’t believe in…..It’s you. Dear God.By the way.This sentence is one paragraph.This sentence is another, but in all likelihood it will be smacked up against the previous paragraph, because the comments editor is messed up.
both, like the meredith brooks song
I really believe that everybody is both. I think you probably were asking for a more opinionated answer, but to me I’m going to answer for myself simply in the way that I think it has to be.
Unlike a few other things in life, where it’s impossible to be two things at the same time, in this case I think you HAVE to be both at the same time. If you’re a Saint, you have to know what it feels like to Sin..otherwise how do you really know? And vice versa.
Some people can argue that because someone tells them it’s wrong, or God ruled it wrong, etc. that they just know, but the human mind simply doesn’t work that way. You might WANT to really know, but we can’t really feel like we know what anything is unless we’ve been there, done that.
probably a little of both, hopefully that makes me more interesting.
What really is a saint?
Saint:
1. [n] model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal
2. [n] person of exceptional holiness
Perfection? Of even any kind – how many people really fit that definition? I can only think of one person who lived on this earth that fit that description – Jesus. Sounds cheezy and all Christian-cliche, but oh well. Things sometimes become cliche ‘cuz they’re true and stay that way.
Since it takes only one sin to be labeled a sinner, I would have to say we’re all sinners. We can all perhaps become kind of saint-like, but not on our own power, or our own personal motivations. Because becoming good just to say or feel we’re good really isn’t enough.
sinner. all the way.
and, might i add, quite comfortably and contentedly so.
Sinner.
I think I am a good person, but don’t wwe all. I try to get through each day doing things that make me feel good about myyself and proud to be who i am.
Sometimes I can be a sinner… but only in the best kind of way.
I am no saint, but a sinner. All are sinner. even If we are of the holyest kind.
I am a sinner! I don’t try to be or anything. I try like you to be good, but just being alive is a kind of sin these days it seems. If we are not told we are killing ourselves with one thing we are told we are killing the planet with another. I think if we look at the world and ourselves for too long and too closely all we see are sinners and scars. There is something beyond that though. You have to have that greater vision. Look at all you’ve done.
I am reminded of Aristotle’s measure of a man, but that might be boring and a comment box sin. So I will just say as one man said to me when I was picking at the scabs of my own misery, if you look into the abyss long enough, it begins to look into you.
Yeah, he got it from somewhere else. iI’s famous I think and I misquoted it. But it does act as a kind of get out of hell free card in a way.
I think Oscar Wilde summed it up quite well:
Every saint has a past, every sinner a future.
I’m a sinner striving to be a saint. In this case, I think that goes for most people. Not many people can consider themselves saints. I don’t think even actual saints would consider themselves saints.
I try to be a saint, but it doesn’t always work.
i think how a person answers this question reveals greater truth than the answer itself.