Yesterday, I went to church for my routine Sunday evening mass and something that the priest mentioned struck a chord in me. He mentioned that we all were created beautiful and almost flawless like a brand new Ferrari. But there was something that was wrong.. nothing much... just a small something. This little flaw in each of us is like a problem in the steering wheel - it tends to turn slightly off course if left alone. And life is like driving in this Ferrari of ours. It is going to be a beautiful drive, as long as we keep our hands constantly on the steering wheel.
My mom once shared with me what she had learn. She shared that a priest once explained that what Christians term 'original sin' really has an effect much like this: Imagine you have a perfectly smooth cylinder and you roll it down an inclined board. The cylinder will roll straight towards the ground. However, if you have a cone shaped vase and you roll it down that same board, it is going to head towards the ground because of gravity, but it is also going to swerve to the side. In many way, we all have a longing to understand and seek out a mysterious being - some people call God - but 'original sin' is an inbuilt weakness/imperfection that leads us off track. We don't have to worry that much because that 'gravity' towards the truth will always pull us towards the same place eventually. But every now and then, we need to pull ourselves back on track, only to sway again. Eventually we will find what we are looking for, each taking his/her own path of swerves and correction, but eventually we will find what we all are inertly called to find.
So as a Christian, I fully accept the idea of original sin as a weakness in humanity. But what I do not understand yet is why do Christians say Baptism has washed us of our original sin? Has it? If so, why do we still falter and sway?
Life now for me is taking a toll. Full of distractions from work. Just need to find some quiet time to pick myself back up again and, in trust, live.
