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The intoxicated husband snuck up the stairs quietly after midnight. He looked in the bathroom mirror. He proceeded, then, to bandage the bumps and bruises he'd received in a fight earlier that night. He climbed into bed, smiling at the thought that he'd pulled one over on his wife. When morning arrived, he opened his eyes. There stood his wife with an angry look on her face. "You were drunk last night weren't you?!" "No, honey," he pleaded with a show of innocence. "Well,” the wife retorted, “if you weren't, then who put all the band-aids on the bathroom mirror?"
Is it not amazing how often what we try to hide that is wrong seems to come out, anyway? Possibly, honesty is built into the universe as a sort of structural-tendency, so to speak, even when we deny our need to confess honestly.
Prussian king Frederick the Great was touring a Berlin prison. The prisoners fell on their knees before him to proclaim their innocence, except for one man, who kept silent. King Frederick called to him, "Why are you here?" "Armed robbery, Your Majesty," replied the prisoner. "And are you guilty?," asked the king. "Yes indeed, Your Majesty,” replied the prisoner, “I deserve my punishment." King Frederick summoned the jailer and ordered him, "Release this guilty wretch at once. I will not have him kept in this prison where he will corrupt all the fine innocent people who occupy it."
(Today in the Word, December 4, 1992)
2Count yourself lucky—
GOD holds nothing against you
and you're holding nothing back from him.
3When I kept it all inside,
my bones turned to powder,
my words became daylong groans.
4The pressure never let up;
all the juices of my life dried up.
(Psalm 32.3-4, The MESSAGE)
Have you noticed how relieved you can feel when you finally admit something that you have held within you a long time? Confession is not principally a religious duty, rather, confession is central to living a normal, thriving, and healthy life, as well as persons living joyfully together.
Question: Is there something you have been hiding that you need to confess? Is today the day to confess it?
OneLife Ministries is a pastoral outreach and nurture ministry of the First United Methodist Church, Fort Meade, FL. For Spiritual Direction, Pastoral Counseling, spiritual formation workshops, Christian meditation retreats, or more information about OneLife, write Rev. Dr. Brian K. Wilcox at briankwilcox@comcast.net.
Brian's book of mystical love poetry, An Ache for Union, can be ordered through major bookdealers.
Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors
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