For me, as a child being brought up in a traditional Christian denomination deeply entrenched in Calvinistic beliefs about the sinfulness of man, life seemed to be like a towering mountain, its sides covered with soap. One climbed—or rather crawled—a few steps up and . . . whoosh! One came slithering back. At the top sat a menacing, occasionally scowling, very rarely smiling father figure called "God Almighty" or "Lord of Hosts." He was holding a balance sheet on which, I was convinced, my debits could only far exceed my credits. It's not too surprising that guilt became the most pervasive feeling in my life. Even my acceptance of Christian Science years later, soon followed by class instruction, only partially freed me at that time from this feeling of guilt.
Why is guilt such a pervasive feeling? One reason is that society is made up of groups that seem to spend a great deal of time judging, condemning, and criticizing each other. This is all too frequently done with great self-righteousness, which automatically guarantees that the comment will be rejected. Church members all too easily get caught in this game—sometimes in the most absurd ways.
But is there not some deeper reason for the ubiquity of criticism, judgment, and guilt in human affairs? And how does one free oneself from this burden?
