We discover what it truly means to be a sinner when we begin walking in opposite direction, opposite to where we have always walked. Imagine for a second a man walking in favor of the wind and let’s leave morality out of the picture for a moment. This man isn’t struggling to walk because he is being aided by the wind. This man feels no resistance at all because the wind works in his favor. He has an advantage in making his life easier and possibly getting to his destiny sooner than later. Picture on of those electric staircases in the airport and how much faster one gets to advance with the help of them vs walking without any assistance. Now let’s add morality in the picture. Imagine that this man who is being carried by the wind is doing so for evil reasons. He decides to move in this direction because this is how he operates and gets what he wants. He accomplishes his mission every time but it is an evil undertaking regardless of anything else.
Surprisingly, successful as this man may be, this man walks at a huge disadvantage. He may be very used to walking by being carried by the wind, flawlessly and easily. But perhaps, for various reasons, he has never known what it is to take the harder route or path. And the reader might ask; But isn’t the man doing a disservice to himself if he walks without the aid of the wind, against the wind? What could possibly be in it for him, except difficulty, pain, hardship, despair, etc? And I repeat myself, this is where morality comes in. See, this man could potentially may never truly get to understand himself fully. He understands the easy way out, he understands what he is familiar with, what he knows, but he doesn’t know there is an opposite to what he knows. And what he knows leads to pride because he gets to tell himself that he is a master in his own destiny. And to go in the opposite direction is to tell himself that he no longer will feel pride. It will be the equivalent of not putting himself first.
And mind you, there could be pride even in what is morally good. Every behavior and every act can come from a place of selfishness, which can be rooted in pride, even walking contrary to where the wind is blowing. The man should ask himself why does he want to change his ways? For what? For what cause? So that he makes sure it is not for the wrong reasons. How does he know then that he is taking the best available path? Hopefully he is serving that which is highest in value, God. This man must lose himself in order to find himself. To move in the direction of the wind is to move with earthly advantages. To move in opposition to where the wind is blowing is to take the path of suffering. It is also to rebel against earthly passions, as it is to wrestle with God. He who seeks comfort may never truly know God, for God reveals himself in suffering. Strangely enough, the ancients believed love was synonymous with suffering. To conceptualize God properly one would have to say God is love and suffering simultaneously and maybe this implies that man doesn’t truly know himself unless he has truly suffered for that which he truly loves.
