Deadly

There are seven of them...seven deadly sins. And here all along, I thought all sins were deadly.

The Roman Catholic church divided sins into two categories, Mortal and Venial. Venial sins were those that could be remedied by sacraments and were not considered "serious." Mortal sins, also known as capital or cardinal sins (interesting choice of words) were those that were considered "deadly." The remedy for mortal sins is confession and contrition.

I'm pretty sure that there are plenty of mortal and venial sins in every community, including the one that I live in.

Forbes magazine, in an article entitled America's Most Sinful Cities, examined US cities and named cities to correspond with each of the mortal sins. Pretty interesting stuff.

Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride. Here's what the list looks like...

Lust - Denver, Colorado....record contraception sales

Gluttony - Memphis....gotta love those ribs

Avarice - San Jose...."do you know the way to San Jose..."

Sloth - Memphis...enough said

Wrath - Detroit...#1 Murder ranking in the US

Envy - Memphis...again...ouch!

Pride - Salt Lake City...

I was hoping that my city wouldn't be on the list, and sure enough we avoided making the list. That made me feel proud, then I wondered if that feeling was a mortal or venial sin.

I love bbq...oops, gluttony lurks around the corner.

There are times when my attitudes make me a viable candidate for living in Memphis.

Then there are moments when I feel a sense of, "at least I am not as bad as that person." I hear Salt Lake City calling.

Avarice....an insatiable desire for wealth....that thought has crossed my mind on occasion. Just because it probably won't happen doesn't mean that I am exempt from the temptation to go down that road.

Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about; See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong—then guide me on the road to eternal life. Psalms 139:23-24 (The Message)

Enough said...

What do you think?