“The Scarlet Letter”
The Scarlet Letter is a book about a town adulterer. Hester Prynne was married and had relations with another man. A child was born from the union. Hester named the child, Pearl. The townspeople made Hester wear a Scarlet "A" on her clothes every time she left the house as her punishment for her sin. It was a puritan settlement in seventeenth-century Boston, Massachusetts.
Imagine a world where we had to wear the markings of our sins on our clothes every time we left the house. All the world would know our personal faults and failings. Nothing would be held from the public. If you struggle with watching pornography, you would wear a Scarlet "P". If you often lied to people, you would wear a Scarlet "L". If you are a drunkard, you would wear a Scarlet "D". If you are an adulterer, even if only in your heart or mind, you would wear a Scarlet "A".
In such a world, our lives would be wracked with shame. No one would go outside. No one would interact with each other. Perhaps only those who bore the Scarlet "P" and took pride in their sins. It would be a world of embarrassment, sadness, and despair. A place of darkness and loneliness, it would suck the life out of everything. No longer would people focus on the good and the beautiful, they would be unable to look past the evil and sin that surrounded them. It would be a dwelling place for the devil. The angels would have a hard time helping people overcome their embarrassment and shame. They would have a hard time stopping everyone from judging each other. Judgement would come quick as a knife since the sins of each person were outwardly displayed.
The strange thought about such a world is that it actually exists. Granted, we do not witness it. We cannot see the sins of each person when they walk by us. We cannot, but God can. God pierces the darkness. He sees everything under the sun and throughout the night. He knows each soul and the sins of each soul. If He wanted, He could turn our world into the Scarlet Letter world.
Instead of turning our world into the Scarlet Letter world, He turns it into the Sacred Heart world. Have you witnessed the picture of His Sacred Heart? His heart is open and exposed, with the fire of his love boiling out, and the light of His life shining forth, yet the crown of thorns hugs tightly and pierces it. A single drop of blood falls.
Imagine a world where a God loved the people of it so much, instead of exposing their shame, He exposes His merciful heart; and, in so doing, allows it to be pierced rather than allowing the sin of the people to (rightfully so) eternally pierce them.
That is the world we live in.
Let us thank Him for His merciful and Sacred Heart in this Sacred Heart world; and, praise Him that we do not have to bear our Scarlet Letters.
