Precept and Practice – SEPTEMBER 19 – Sin

Sin is not a real thing.   It is rather the absence of a something, the will to do right.

(The Reverend F. W. Robertson)

The truest definition of evil is that which represents sin as something contrary to nature;  it is evil because it is unnatural;  an unnatural mother, an unnatural son, an unnatural act, are the strongest terms of its condemnation.

(The Reverend F. W. Robertson)

All sin comes, in a sense, from ignorance.   No one would harbour sin in his breast who really and fully knew its poisonous nature;  he would as soon think of harbouring a viper.   We do not resent the misconduct of the insane;  we pity them as the victims of a sad malady.   The sinner is a much greater object of pity.   He knows not what he is doing;  and the wrong he does to you returns sevenfold into his own bosom.   Remember that, and the thought of it will make forgiveness much easier to you.

(Canon MacColl – Life Here and Hereafter)

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From the Introduction to Precept and Practice

The kindly welcome given to my other little books, ‘Being and Doing’ and ‘Character and Conduct,’ must be my excuse for adding another collection of extracts to the number now in circulation.

The quotations are gathered from the books of many earnest thinkers, and deal with Life in all its length and breadth, with ourselves, our characters, our plain unvarnished faults and weaknesses, our often untoward circumstances, and with all that drags us down;-  with our purposes, our religion, our love and friendships, and with all that uplifts us;-  with our relation to others, our influence and responsibilities, and finally with those stages of our journey which bring us to the Road’s Last Turn and to the Silent Land.

CONSTANCE  M. WHISHAW