Character and Conduct – 25 May – Sin

WE deceive ourselves in another way, namely, by seeking for all manner of excuses and palliations.   The strength of the temptation, or the suddenness of it, or the length of it;  our own weakness, our natural tendency to that particular sort of sin;  our wishes to be better, the excellence of our feelings, the excellence of our desires;  the peculiarity of our circumstances, the special disadvantages which make us worse off than others;  all these we put before our minds as excuses for having done wrong, and persuade ourselves too often that wrong is not really wrong, and that though the deed was sinful the doer of it was not.   I do not mean that these palliations are never worth anything, nor do I mean that in every case the same deed is the same sin.   There are no doubt infinite varieties of guilt in what appears outwardly the same deed, and God will distinguish between them and will judge justly.   But the habit of mind which leads us to palliate our sins and find good excuses for them, has this dangerous tendency, that it blinds us to the evil of evil.   We slip into the delusion that we are better than we seem…./

Bishop TEMPLE

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These quotes are from ‘Character and Conduct’ A selection of helpful thoughts from various authors arranged for daily reading.

Collected by Constance M Whishaw and first published in 1905 as a follow up to her volume of Daily Readings for members of the Being and Doing Guild who asked for an additional volume

In her preface Whishaw writes:

‘This collection of noble thoughts expressed by men and women of past and present ages who have endeavoured to leave the world a little better than they found it.’

It is my hope in publishing the her readers may be inspired to imitate the example of the authors.