First Word: Mary Judith Ress: Rosebud

Rosebud

Nip it in the bud.  Yes.  But what should be crushed before it begins? A love affair? The temptation to shoulder your backpack and simply take off? The urge to go on a binge to soothe a broken heart? The desire to steal another woman’s husband, or that package of imported Colombian coffee at the Jumbo, or that lovely mauve sweater hanging on the bargain rack, or a peak at the code the old man in front of you uncertainly punches into the cash machine, or passing that $10,000 peso bill with the torn corner on to your empleada?  Small sins—and not so small.  Temptations that are usually, but not always, nipped in the bud. 
            I wonder, though, if our human condition isn’t somehow enhanced when we realize what we are capable of.  Confronted with our sins, our shortcomings, our shadows, don’t we learn humility? Don’t we learn that we are both Seraphim and Lucifer? Is sinning, then, really the road to redemption?
            I should definitely NOT be an ethicist.