sin
As a child growing up in the Catholic Church, I had a complicated relationship with sin. What I was taught every Sunday at Mass, knee bones crushing on the kneelers, was that sin, like the devil, like evil - like all the endless stories about who did what wrong - was bad, bad, bad. Do not sin. Because not if - but when you do - you must head to the black box at the back of the church, kneel down and wait for the screen to slide open: Bless me Father for I have sinned. Since my last confession I swung on the toilet stall door at Minnewashta Elementary and it broke off the hinges - I unscrewed the neighbor's outdoor Christmas lightbulbs and jumped on them to hear the popping noise they made - I did not raise my hand when teacher asked our catechism class who would be willing to demonstrate their belief in Jesus as much as those did in biblical times ….enough to put their head on the desk to be chopped off? (true story) Go to confession and tell Father what you did. He will ab...
