On my way back from work one day, I was taken aback about a conversation I overheard in the bus. Two people, who probably knew each other pretty well, spoke about their previous day. They happily chatted, while I smiled to myself listening to them. Their accent was making me smile and it was this that caught my attention about them initially and got listening to them. But then something that one said caught my attention more than before. He happened to share an incident about himself in which he had done something which would be considered a sin in the words of an ethical soul; but this one didn’t regret the deed he had committed. He instead mentioned that, as he believed in the Almighty - a prayer and a hom-havan (offerings) would help him cleanse his spirit. Soon after, it was time for me to get off the bus and leave the gentlemen to their talk.
But as I walked back home, this thought resonated in my mind “Do we have the License to Sin?” We are bound to sin, as humans, willingly or in our own ignorant ways either by thought, word or deed. Whatever the case; Does that give us the right to “Sin”? A relative term, what may be considered a sin to one wouldn’t be one to the other right?! Either ways, we do commit them anyways and once we realize what we have done, we beg for forgiveness. Quite the nature of law, isn't it?
However, the frequency and the means to seek forgiveness vary from one person to the other. In our homes or nearby temples, at mosques or churches or be it a trip to a shrine or a dip in the holy waters, everyone does their own bit to wash away their sins; hoping to be forgiven by their Creator and in the pursuit to cleanse their sinning souls.
I believe that the greatest power one can have is, to forgive. The reason, I use “power”, is because it’s not something people get it from birth or inherit from their ancestors, it’s a “power” one earns.
And the special ones who achieve it, are the ones who attain a special place in not just our hearts but the hearts they touch as they move on. One needn’t look too far for such people, our parents lead by example. They are the first ones to forgive us, for the wrongs we’ve done and probably the wrongs we’ll keep doing. Be it a daily or a weekly, an annual or a once-in-a-life-time affair, whenever we beg to be forgiven. Do we really value this forgiveness? Or have we started taking it for granted? I, like many of us, have been lenient on this aspect. Why is that we value forgiveness only after being punished? I keep wondering.
I finally reached home, tired and exhausted. It was time to go to bed. Even if I go to sleep, these questions will certainly keep my soul awake, asking me time and time again, “Do we have License to Sin?”
