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Painting:  At the End of the Day (acrylic on canvas)    

I’m doing my best to explore the theme of reconciliation this Lent even though it is not a topic I am naturally drawn to. So far, I’ve considered the broader theme of reconciliation itself and made another stop along the path, at awareness. Today I find myself at the corner of confession and what the heck do I do with that because I’m not Catholic.

Up until now, I figured that confession was pretty much that thing that Catholics did…absolutely for sure at Lent and at other times of the year as they felt necessary. So how do I process the idea of confession as a member of UCoL and link it to the theme of reconciliation?

The text at church yesterday was a good starting point. Luke tells the story of the two sons. The younger son insists on taking his inheritance early and ends up squandering the money with the result that he decides to come back to his father, confess his sins and hope that he will be taken back. I clearly see awareness of self and confession in the heart of this story. And in this context, confession does make sense to me. When I make a really big mistake, I need to make a really big confession in the hope of reconciliation. Not every day is filled with this sort of drama though. So how does this idea apply to my life as a person who wants to live faithfully every day?

I began to find some answers to that in the discussion station (Who is the Younger Brother in the Holy Land?) with Rev. Karen on Sunday. A framework, of needing to be in balance as a person of faith, emerged from the midst of our conversation. Within that framework, I desire to be in balance with how I treat the planet, with how I approach and embrace social justice and on a daily level with how well I carry out my goals of living as a follower of Christ.

On a practical level, I’m going to work at making choices that are kind to our precious planet.  I’m also going to continue approaching and embracing social justice issues in spite of my discomfort. And at the end of each day, I have decided I’m going to review the stories of that day and really examine the places where I think I can do better next time. No formal confession with a priest, but a private time of seeing mindfully and being honest enough with myself to confess my errors.