I was traveling last week and brought along a new book by a favorite author, Jungian analyst Robert Johnson. It’s called “Living Your Unlived Life,” and at one point he gives the original definition of the word “heresy.”

This potent word, what we think of as a large sin against God or against some rules of the faith, originally meant “to be off balance.” In Johnson’s words, “to overrate one side or the other of a basic equilibrium.”

There is something both very forgiving and very challenging in this classic definition. For one thing, we are all heretics, and the invitation is to be aware of my heresy on any given day. Not in a narcissistic, self-flagellating way, but as an exercise in greater consciousness and awareness.

Am I going too fast or too slow? Being too negative or too positive? Too stubborn or too pliable? Where am I living (read: clinging) to one way of being or thinking that, however comfortable and familiar, is ultimately something I should outgrow? What unlived parts of me are tired of living in the basement and are starting to pound on the door and come into the house?

This definition reminded me of one of the definitions in the Bible for the word “sin.” There are many definitions, interestingly, including one that means to be deaf to something, and one that means “to allow oneself to be diminished.” Hmmm. But the main definition for sin comes from an archery term, and it means “to miss the mark.” As in to try, with even good intentions, and not quite get there. Or just be a little bit off. As in... you are guaranteed to sin, every day your feet swing out of bed and hit the floor. It’s part of being human. 

Both these generous words serve as symbols, pointing to our lives, if we will let them, not to shame us, but to invite movement toward wholeness, toward some greater awareness of the ways we are called to grow into the full statures that God calls us to.

In the coming week, try the spiritual disciplines these words evoke. Make a list of where your life is out of balance—either in thought, word or deed. What could you do to bring more equilibrium? And where are you missing the mark... not saying what you mean, not following through, not (you know what goes here). Realize you are not alone, but have excellent and abundant company.