When Adam and Eve first sinned in the Garden of Eden, guilt was an appropriate symptom of their disobedience.  Guilt is built into our conscience to let us know when we have done something that threatens our connection with God.  

Sadly, only about 50% of married couples will reach their 15th wedding anniversary.  Only 33% will reach their 25th anniversary.  The primary reason:  Divorce.

Shame has many faces, conveying varying messages of ill being, coaxing its victims into secrecy, silence, and blame – condemning them to eek out a seemingly inescapable existence in the dark rooms of depression, anxiety, and detachment.

There is a huge difference between a saint repenting of sin, and always feeling like a sinner.  Shame erodes the core of our identity, so that we feel devalued, insignificant, deficient – worthless.  

Most people try to avoid making mistakes.  We are taught from an early age that mistakes are unacceptable, intolerable, unprofitable, detrimental, and even fatal to our success and wellbeing.We are taught from an early age that only the perfect performances are acceptable. 

What would our lives be like if we could not sense what was going on around us, or happening to us — if we were unaware of the world in which we live?  Would we really even exist?