Confession and The Spiritual Pathway
Every child misbehaves…every one. In fact, though every parent will admit their child misbehaves, I am really getting tired of the epidemic of child worshipers who at least act as if their child is perfect (at the expense of all others). When a child is wrong, they need to understand this and be lovingly helped to make amends and forgive themselves as we, their parents, forgive them.
Perhaps this is the reason that so many adults, having grown up in this kind of atmosphere, find the idea of confession so hard. (Or perhaps they create this situation because their own fear of confession…the chicken and the egg strikes again) Then again, it may be from a lack of complete acceptance (often poorly disguised as condemnation by the religious community). Whatever the situation, I fear we have lost the art of confession in our faith. Not confession in a booth where we hide out and say what we are afraid of really admitting (though that does have some benefit), but open and honest confession and repentance (meaning turning from…) before God and perhaps a trusted friend.
When was the last time you talked with God about all your sin and failure….admitted it and asked him to forgive you and help you turn away from continuing the pattern…and then felt his loving arms around you. He really is the perfect image of what we as parents should be. He wants so much more for us than the “mudpies” we play in (thank you C.S. Lewis).
Take some time today to be honest with God…and if you dare…let us know how it goes.
- Written by Ed Palpant
September 18th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
I think there are different levels of confession. For example, I typically don’t have a lot of big sins to confess on a daily basis. You know, I’m not lusting after guys constantly, or planning to kill or defraud people, or cheating my employer. So I feel like I’m usually ok. And my little sins I don’t mind confessing. Sure, I lost my temper at that crazy driver earlier today. And I lost my patience with the sales clerk and said something sarcastic.
But.
There are other sins that are so ugly that when I become aware of them I realize I can’t possibly confess them. Just the thought of their existence makes me cringe. And when I do confess them, I water it down so that people won’t hate me. Confession is an art, and it’s one we need to practice in extremely intimate circles: with God, with spouse, with super trusted friends. But it can also be a relief.