Twenty: Confession

Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. James 5:15-16

Silence can be awkward. Most people don't deal well with public silence, whether it's a moment of silence in remembrance of someone or that silence that comes during worship when we are to confess our sins in the presence of God and one another. Have you ever taken notice of the amount of fidgeting, coughing, whispering, and shuffling of feet that takes place during "silence?" 

I, however, love the silence. I love times of quiet reflection. I take seriously the time during worship when we are to confess our sins, and often find that the presiding minister must think highly of the congregation to make that confessional time so short. Either that, or I'm a very very bad person. 

I have a confession to make. I used to lie to priests. While in Confession.

You see, I was a good little Catholic girl who really didn't do lots of wrong things, but I felt like my list of sins wasn't long enough for the priest to believe I was confessing everything, so I'd make up some stuff. Then I'd confess that one of my sins was lying to cover the lying I'd just done. Maybe I am quite the warped person after all. 

But anyway, back to Confession. I really feel like, if we could all confess our sins to each other and to God every day, we wouldn't carry the weight or the energy of them around with us. The world would be a better place if we shared our missteps and our brokenness with each other. And we wouldn't have quite the list come Sunday.

And if we could readily offer forgiveness to those who confess their sins to us, and pray for the person that they may accept and live the forgiveness, what wonderful relationships - and a wonderful world - we would build!

From now on, I intend to: confess my sins to and ask forgiveness from those against whom I sin, as well as God, as soon as possible after the sin is committed; to learn from each transgression; to pray for God's guidance; and to forgive as easily as I seek forgiveness. 

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Forty Days In Thought, Word, and Deed