There but for the Grace of God...

There was an excellent column in the Religion section of the Morning News yesterday about Mel Gibson's drunken tirade and the backlash that it has sparked. One line in that column specifically grabbed my attention:

The episode could be a moment of conversion, too, for all of us high-minded commentators who take comfort in not being like that booze-addled anti-Semite.

I thought about that statement; I thought about Chuck Adair and his story as he related it last week; I thought about a former president who was ridiculed with such relish by the 'right'eous for his moral failings; I thought about about a number of people whose shortcomings have been exposed in a public or not so public way.

I was reminded again that while I am very much the sinner in need of mercy, in my own mind's eye I am more often the pharisee thankful that I am not like those sinners or others that I encounter on a daily basis. In reality, I just haven't been so publicly exposed. My lust, my pride, my selfishness, my arrogance, my deceit, my lack of trust - these are all my hidden secrets.

Only they are not hidden from the One who knows my heart. Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.