Sep 6, 2009

The Deadly Sins


The Seven Deadly Sins as set forth in literature as pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and sloth, were made famous by Dante Alighieri in his epic poem “The Divine Comedy”. Surely they are not the exhaustive list of sins, it is just the gist. We have it established through the various prophets and Books from God that all that is unrighteousness is sin, but then there is the listing which is unforgivable by the Almighty.

“There are six things the LORD despises, seven that are despicable to Him: arrogant eyes, a false tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that conceives wicked ploys, feet that rush into evil, bearing witness to falsehood and accusations and he who stirs up discord amongst brothers”. Yes, God has indicated the unpardonable sins. I am not here to go on about it in the context you already are well versed in. That will just make it a drag.

Dante in his poem listed the 7 deadly sins to keep the people from his era [1300s] in line with the right and away from the wrong. Clever man he was.

Many people are still righteous on the grounds of the unpardonable sins, even though the temptations and opportunities are far more approachable now, but now there are more “deadly” sins to avoid. Which we hardly do. Surprise yourself as you read along.

1. Waiting for happiness

For some oddity or malfunctioning thought, people believe that acquiring things is happiness. When they have a job, they are happy; once they are successful, they are happy; they buy a car, a house, build a pool, they are happy; they have a good bank account, they are happy; they know that their retirement is secured, they are happy. Really? And if their wait is endless to get what they want, they are unhappy.

Do we not need to just be happy in the first place to send positive vibes to get there where we want to be? How can a negative body language lead to any success in life in the first place?

There’s an excellent text by Crystal Boyd from her book “Happiness is a Journey.” It has a reminder for all its readers and that is "do not wait to be happy". And she does so in a really profound way that everyone can relate to. I recommend you read the text when you can, because I did and I am shining bright now. You can do so here.

The key to avoid this sin is to remember, that happiness is no door which will unlock and the longer you wait for it to open, the lesser the time you'll have to be grateful and to be really happy, because you actually are, you are just too much into self-pity that is all.

2. Achieving success alone

Seen people using others as stepping stones to their progress and then disposing them like a packet of sour chips?

Being successful is not really all individual. Obviously for selfish reasons we want to credit ourselves only but even while we are alone, we are working with somebody. I tell myself that if I have to go forth, I have to take my teammates along. Victory will not be any good if I see my best mates on the ground floor and myself on the top. Looking down upon anyone is sin. Who gives you that right? Just because you stepped on them and progressed, you think you are all that deserving! Really!

There’s an old saying that reads "the road to success is lonely, but it won’t be when you help others". What Good is a house, if you can't make it a home?

3. Ridiculing others for their dreams

We all think too much of ourselves. We were made from the same mud and clay like the rest of our kind. There is no special ingredient that went into designing me or you. So why does it give me the pleasure to write off someone else's dreams and aspirations and push in mine! We are all the same. We want almost all the same. It is unpardonable to crush the hopes and dreams of others, just so you can reach it yourself. God has never given you the right to demean.

4. Self-satisfaction

It’s one thing to be satisfied with what you have, but it’s another story when you’ve completely settled. Not wanting anything, saying that you will give in to your desires because you have had enough of it. I have seen and known people who are so self satisfied that they give up prayers. They think that if they pray they have to ask for something and they don’t need anything so why pray. It is a sin to think you have it all. Really. We are constantly dependent on that entity. Even if you choose to be indifferent, you very well know that what you have can be taken away from you. To keep it even you need to ask, you need to want.

5. Not questioning

Never question God. You don’t have the right to do it. No matter how big the mess in your life is, it is not bigger than God and hence you have not been given the right to ask Him to answer you. It really doesn't work that way. But the greatest thing we can do for ourself is to question our own living, our own life as much as we can.

I always ask questions like:

- Why me? Where did I go wrong?

- Why not me? What do I lack? Where do I lag?

- Do I really love what I’m doing? Is it really what I want? Should I?

As humans we are not fed in with answers. It takes time to have what we are looking for. But the thought process should keep happening. Unless we don't question ourselves, we will not be able to overcome the lag.

6. Live without change

Who says you have to be something big to cause change? Why always go to the literal meaning of the word 'world', you can change your world whenever you want. It is not as hard as it seems. Your community, your neighborhood is the world you move in, if you are able to bring about a good change, it really will spread out eventually. But you have to start small to make it big. Simple acts can create drastic change.

7. Fearing

The whole point of the original seven deadly sins was to instill fear in people. But living in fear isn’t living. If I am fearful of the cars outside and because of that I stop stepping out, is that really worth a life?

We are humans. It is human to err and though we should be fearful of the consequences we still can acknowledge that the sin was committed and we repent. The Almighty is the most forgiving and merciful, He just wants us to ask for forgiveness with a pure heart and He loves to forgive.

There are many every day sins we commit. We give up hope. We commit suicide, slander, ridicule; we just don’t stop nowhere. Do you have any sins you’d like to confess? Obviously your confession, your business, but when you share you let others know what they are doing wrong too. Are you or were you guilty of any of these sins?

19 Read and Said:

Anonymous said...

what happened to the other intense debate commenting widget? :O was fun in that!

Anonymous said...

thats a true list of despisable things...
lets get to ur main things..

1. true... they say good things come to those who wait, but waiting for happiness is just not required. its after all, we, who decide when to be happy and when not to... we should be happy for what we have, then only we can be happy.

2. a point that many could do noting down. appreciation for the assistance that one gets in any victory is always appreciated by the other party.(hope that sentence made sense..) good ending sentence...it is no good of course living in a house and not a home.

3. oh i do feel this. many a time, other dreams have been tried to placed upon me. it'd be more better if one helped others chase their dreams. they'll make it worth their time, and u'll be happy too that u helped someone achieve their dreams.

4. need to want...that is quite interesting! yes, it is true. without wanting more, one can never know what is enough. prayer is always good. it needn't be to ask anything for urself, u can ask somethin for others too.

5. i tend to question myself too... i pray to god, but not question him exactly. i ask him questions but not question his decisions. an inquiry of sorts when i find questions have no answers!

6. true. very true. changing THE world is difficult, but changing YOUR world is always up to u...

7. erm.. the only thing to fear should be fear then..? if u fear fear, then you can avoid it! and that'll do well right?

yeah... if giving up hope is a sin, i've committed that lot of times...but with enuf angels around me, i've always fought back! :)

oh ps.. what happened to ur hotline?

Americanising Desi said...

i kinda forgot i had that and changed the layout :(

but dont worry this will be equally fun cuz i will make sure i reply to comments after the comment has been made :)

Americanising Desi said...

i kinda like how you have analysed yourself with each point :) this is my hotline, it just so happens that the title wont fit in the header so i had to come up with a shorter sweeter and more meaningful!

first i was sticking with just suicide hotline, but then maybe i give the wrong impression :(

what do u suggest?

Anonymous said...

oh i like this title too..! but not the template as much...

i liked the header of ur previous template Seher...the feet :)

Jack said...

A D,

Read 5 posts now. Nice to see more of your insight. I agree with you that success has to be shared. One may feel that all has been achieved but that should not hold that person from praying to thank God for all that is given. We surely can request God, WHY ME or WHY NOT ME?

I posted comined comment on your main page 2short2sweet also after reading 8 posts.

Take care

Americanising Desi said...

Leo you break my heart :(


Jack,
wow, i dunno what to say. is the niceguy you ate my other blog?
well i m speechless the way you take so much interest in my posts.

Anonymous said...

apologies if i have inadvertently criticized ur choice of template Seher, but i just spoke of my affection for the look i've seen since i first joined the suicide hotline as a follower..! :)

Ali Khatoo said...

is doing drugs a sin

Americanising Desi said...

Leo,
i hope this change wont make you leave :)


Ali,
you can be a better judge of your own doings :)

Ali Khatoo said...

i dunno desi, what'd u say bout it?
doing weed is low level, i mean sometimes life itself makes a person to do shit like this, (u get what am sayin)

Anonymous said...

oh come on Seher, as if a change of clothes can make a lover love his sweetheart any lesser! :D

i'm still ur follower and u will still find my opinions voiced here! :)

plz do the same for mine too, coz i value ur opinion as well. :)

Americanising Desi said...

Ali,
in my personal opinion. It is ENTIRELY WRONG! I dont do it. Will never do it. So I find it WRONG!


Leo,
wow that is a unique way of putting it!
obviously! i love ur haikus and poems

Anonymous said...

thank you so much. glad that u liked! :)

i admire your direct dil se type posts too... most of the times if not all, i can relate to them.

this post perhaps could be crossposted @ life or something like it, later.. its quite related on life right? :)

Americanising Desi said...

i was plannin to initially but then i posted it here instead :)

but will take ur recommendation!

Anonymous said...

cool! :D

Kerala said...

cool

Beautiful places in KERALA , INDIA.
KERALA
PLACE TO VISIT
Punnamada Lake
KABINI RIVER
Kovalam BEACH
Papanasham Beach
Pathiramanal
Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple
PAPANASHAM BEACH
Cheraman Juma Masjid
Munnar
FESTIVAL
Lakshadeepam Festival
For More about KERALA
CLICK HERE

Phitaymaun said...

WOW! I did not expect to find such a 'maulvi-esque' post here! You write well nonetheless, and thanks for dropping by my blog.

The reason i can't appreciate the subject matter of your post: like all overly religious people you don't question what you believe and base everything else on the fact that what you believe is undeniably true. The problem with that is that if everyone believes that than no one can be wrong, and no one can be right and therefore there can be no validity associated with religion which (as is the unfortunate state of affairs currently) allows for cruelty and despotism to exist and be a celestial mandate as easily as kindness and benevolence. You may have you moral compass pointing the right way but everyone in the world does not, and since you are not the only human being on the planet what everyone else believes also matters.
Anyway, the idea was not to question your faith, if you get that impression, but simply to point out where your belief becomes a self defeating prophecy as opposed to the lucid argument you may believe it to be.
Let me reassert, i don't question your faith, i'd be an idiot to do so, in fact i'm rather moved by the clarity with which you understand what you believe. I just hope you'd question it long enough to see the black holes therein.

Americanising Desi said...

beknighted,
thank you for stopping by :)
my dad would jump for joy thinking i m becoming a better person thanks to that maulvi-esque term u used. To Question or not to Question is the Question. There is 1 book, a million interpretations, we have ourself left to judge what is right and what is wrong and apply it to ourselves.
e.g. i consider drinking seriously a WRONG but i will not mock or degrade a person who does so, or question him about it because that is his and God's business none of my business.
But yes I find the WRONG to become right for me if I am sitting in a room with my husband and having it, because after i lose my consciousness [which they say it makes u] i will do whatever stupidity there is that follows in the presence of someone about whom I will not be questioned.

I have a weird set of beliefs based on my own interpretations :)
but thank you for not questioning it. Mine definitely has the black holes but the bigger ONE is all perfect isnt it ?

Previous Post Next Post Back to Top