- by getting mad at God
- by getting defensive
- by lashing out at others
- by beating up on myself
- by asking for forgiveness
- other_____________
Like many others who sincerely try to do right and not hurt others, I find it exceptionally easy to beat up on myself after committing even a social faux pas. I’m sure that this is very much an inherited trait as my mother showed similar characteristics. My mother who never once robbed a bank or even thought of it, prayed that God forgive her many sins. What sins, I ask myself, did she commit? I’m sure that she would say those many times she failed to be consistently helpful to others. Sometimes I fantasize what it would be like to have a carefree spirit and to go about my life totally confident that I had done the right thing – totally absent any painful regret. But is unadulterated euphoria necessary for abundant life? Isn’t abundant life in part made possible because we are reluctant to engage in overbearing thoughtlessness? Should our prayers not always acknowledge the sins that we commit and especially those misguided sins we fail to see? Can we afford to outgrow the need for lent with utter facility?
Print Page
