“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4
Dallas Willard rightly observes that we live in a hypersensitive age. To speak of “sin” as an offense against God, as descriptive word for my nature apart from God’s grace threatens and diminishes me if I am insistent on being the source of my peace. I will not be able to handle sorrow. I have no room for genuinely grieving over the condition of my soul. I can not say to God, “I’m sorry.” Even in public relationships, saying “sorry” when it does happen, has become a media event, controlled and spun. Being sorrowful erupts from the depths of heart and moves forward without concern for the management of everyone’s opinion. This is tough for us. Willard writes:
“There is little hope for genuine change in one who is without remorse, without anguish of regret. Much of what is called Christian profession today involves no remorse or sorrow at all over who one is or even for what one has done. There is little awareness of being lost or of a radical evil in our hearts, bodies, and sols–which we must get away from and from which only God can deliver us. To manifest such awareness today would be regarded–and certainly by most Christians as well–psychologically sick. It is common today to heart Christians talk of their “brokenness.” But when you listen closely, you may discover that they are talking about their wounds, the things they have suffered, not about the evil that is in them… Without this realization of our utter ruin and without the genuine revisioning and redirecting of our lives, which that bitter realization naturally gives rise to, no clear path to inner transformation can be found. It is psychologically and spiritually impossible. We will steadfastly remain on the throne of our universe, so far as we are concerned, perhaps trying to “use a little God” here and there. ” (Renovation of the Heart, 60)
