The phenomenology of original sin
From The Science of the Cross, by St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross:
“There are naturally recognizable signs which indicate that human nature, as it actually is, exists in a state of degeneration. From this stems the inability to perceive and respond to facts interiorly in a way that corresponds to their authentic value.
“This inability may be grounded in an inborn dull-mindedness (in the literal sense), or in a general indifference developed in the course of a lifetime, or finally, in an insensitivity to certain impressions as a result of repeatedly ignoring them. What we have often heard and long-known ‘leaves us cold.’
Added to this, frequently, is an excessive interior preoccupation with one’s own personal concerns that refuses to attend to anything else. We know our interior rigidity is inappropriate and it pains us. Knowing that it arises from a psychological law does not help us to overcome it.
On the other hand, we rejoice when we can convince ourselves through experience that we are still able to feel deep, genuine joy; and [even] deep, genuine pain also seems to us a grace when compared to our rigid insensitivity. This numbness of feeling is particularly painful for us in the religious sphere. Many believers are depressed because the facts of salvation history do not at all (or no longer) impress them as they ought, and lack the strong influence on their lives that they should exert.”
