shame

What does it take to find self-compassion and embrace self-forgiveness?

This acknowledgment is at the heart of Christianity.

Has Paul been unfairly judged?

The saints are so big on humility that sometimes the line seems fuzzy.

The thin cannot say to the fat, "I have no need of you."

It is a subtle shift that we make in our liturgy and preaching. But it’s an important one. We do terrible things and we must confess our action. But we are good. We are made in the image of God. And in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven people.

In the Bible, the ambiguity of shame is unmistakable.

When I was in grad school, my family moved into an apartment in South Chicago. When we saw that the door of the apartment had four locks, we wondered why we needed so many. I soon discovered that the benefit was mostly emotional. When we got inside at night, after being worried about whatever, we could shut the door on the world and turn lots of little levers. “Click, click, click.” I think of that door when I’m listening to people describe how they cope with their fears.