St. Ignatius encourages those who consider participating in his Exercises to consider three sins. The first sin was that of the angels, who chose to rebel and were, it seems, immediately condemned to Hell for doing so. The second sin was committed “on the plains of Damascus” by Adam and Eve’s refusal to obey what Catholic Fundamentalists think of as the “Operating Instructions”. The third are the sins committed by any of us that have resulted in the sinning souls being sent to Hell.
What causes us to even want to sin? Why would we choose to disobey God and be condemned to an eternity of pain?
Vanity. The First Operating Instruction that The Programmer downloaded was “To have no other gods before me.” Those in, on, and supporting the Pyramids of Lies have violated that First Commandment. It behooves us to recognize our own tendency to think more highly of lesser things than of He Who programmed all and kindly programmed each of us within His vast Creation Program.
