Sin?

So, I found out today that you can download some songs for free from the Franciscan Sisters of Charity. They selected songs that they feel have a "discerning spiritual message," and I have to say, their taste in both style and content runs pretty closely to mine.

I feel like very often, secular songs express spiritual concepts better than even a good sermon (or blog post). I am struck today by the way that so many many songs capture the sense of alienation (from God, others, the world) that I think everyone feels sometimes... one of the "spiritually discerning songs" is "The Maker," by Daniel Lanois.

What the song captures so well is what it's like to know yourself alienated from God and the Way Things Should Be. In classical Christian language, a sinner. "I'm a stranger in the eyes of the maker." And in this state of estrangement, Lanois writes, "I could not see for the fog in my eyes. I could not feel for the fear in my life."

I often have trouble making sense of sin in a personal way. I get it at a societal level much more easily. But this song helps me remember, better than any sermon, the hundred little ways it's easy to give in to fear that cuts off my feelings for others, the things that separate me from God and others and make it harder to see things as they truly are. So maybe we do need this season of repentance after all...