From Symposium (4)

Bender's catechesis was entitled Cain and Abel and the "Murder of God." Call me biased, but I thought it was the best presentation of the symposium. There's too much to summarize it here. Besides, a lot of what was presented is already in the catechist volume of Old Testament Catechesis.

There was one thing I made particular note of from his presentation. Sinning is always self-serving. It is turned inward. It is designed to satisfy ME. The problem, though, is that sinning doesN'T satisfy. It cannot. Satisfaction and joy can come only through sacrificial love. (Maybe that's part of "being made in the image of God"?) We think, "I'll be happy if I..." have this, or do that, or whatever. But when we sin and get what we wanted, we are still unsatisfied.

(For some reason, this reminds me of the insatiable greed for Legos that I see in little boys, or for Barbie clothes that I see in little girls. Of course, these are shallow examples. And of course the Barbies and Legos are not sins. And of course it's easier to see this insatiability in children than it is in myself. Wait... did I get off topic?....)

In the topic of life issues, when we're talking about starving an aged or disabled person, or aborting a baby, these things promise ease to the people who remain. But these sins have results that were unexpected, and the sinner remains discontented, unhappy, and looking for bigger fixes of making his own comfort. The sin did not give what it promised. True joy comes only by giving and sacrificing.