Monday, December 28, 2009

Seven Deadly Sins


Do you know what the seven deadly sins are? And why they are called that? I didn't, but as I was thinking about my New Year's Resolutions, I wondered about them. I found out some interesting facts on the Wikipedia page, and I thought maybe it would help some other people think about their own resolutions.

First of all, the whole idea of these particular sins started way back during early Christianity, and beginning in the early 14th Century, the Church hierarchy figured it was a good way to teach the common people about how to live a life of grace. They have also morphed quite a bit over the ages. In the Book of Proverbs, it is stated that the Lord regards "six things that he hateth, and the seventh his soul detesteth." They are:
  • Haughty eyes
  • A lying tongue
  • Hands that shed innocent blood
  • A heart that devises wicked plots
  • Feet that are swift to run into mischief
  • A deceitful witness that uttereth lies
  • Him that soweth discord among brethren
Now if you look at the seven sins that are listed on the back of the woman above, you can see that they are different, and the only one being the same is pride (haughty eyes). These sins all keep you from finding serenity, and I'm sure that the sin of pride has earned the right to be known as the one that goes before a fall.

Pride is the one that has been my downfall, for what seems like forever. I know that any time I begin to think I am better than somebody else, my heart hardens towards that person. It's no wonder that humility, one of the Seven Virtues, is also impossible to develop if you are filled with pride. Sometimes I wonder if I was born just to learn humility, as many times as I've been shown the error of my ways.

My New Year's Resolution for 2010: I will learn to be humble without being humiliated. That's probably enough for a decade, don't you think?
:-)

10 comments:

  1. Interesting...
    My resolution for 2009 was patience. I don't think I've done so well with that! Perhaps it should be the same for 2010.
    I have a bracelet that has the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi on it. I wear it when I need the extra reminder:)

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  2. See, I knew that I could shed that which is NOT innocent! Why I was just telling Dick the other day... no honey, really.. it's OK about that guy who cut you off...

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  3. I remember them from a movie called Seven, a nice little thriller.

    It is very interesting how the they have changed from the original. I wonder if the church thought these would help everyday folks live a life of grace or to keep them in their place?

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  4. Can I copy you? Sounds like a good one for me too.

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  5. I find this fascinating! Interestingly references to the 7 sins don't appear in the bible as a list - they are hinted at but not named.

    It was Pope (Gregory I think - remembered because of his absurd name!) who introduced punishment if any on the list were broken.

    For me the literary references are the most interesting. The Seven Sins are alluded to in Chaucer's fourteenth-century Canterbury Tales, Dante's Divine Comedy, Spenser's Fairie Queen, and Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus. And these served to keep the masses mindful of their moral duties.

    Lovely post :)

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  6. A really insightful post! It would do us all good to avoid any one of them and of course, all of them would be even better!

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  7. OMG. I am going to hell. I am guilty of all of them- well except the innocent blood thing. Unless being a nurse and blood letting counts. Even the ones on the girl are problems. I am not sure about sloth. I don't know what that is. Okay I am being factitious. I think we are all guilty to a degree though. I don't make resolutions. I can't keep them. Probably due to one of those sins. I am a hopeless cause :0

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  8. P.S.
    Because I love your beautiful pictures, stop by my blog today (12/30). I have something you may be interested in doing.
    And, if any other of your readers love photography too, they may want to stop by also!
    Thanks, J.

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  9. That was actually very informative. I never knew the original sins and it didn't even really occur to me where they came from either. I like your new years resolution. Much more wise than some of mine. Give them a look if you like on my page. http://abbie-healing-therapy.blogspot.com/

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  10. Lust would be mine, I'm afraid. All the others too in moderation, but lust is the THE one. I thought I would have grown out of that one by now, but no, not quite yet!
    Blessings, Star

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