[Reflection] Psalm 51:4
“Wash away all my guilt; from my sin cleanse me…”
It was a given that once my playmates and I were let loose on the neighborhood, we would return to our respective homes well-pleased with ourselves — and sometimes covered in dirt and mud. We’d enter the house via the back door — no way could we walk in through the front door!
“Bath. Now. This instant!” would be every mother’s exasperated cry, and not until after a good long shower and lots of soap would we be pronounced fit for polite society.
Sin is like that. It can make you feel good, but it also covers you in spiritual dirt. Guilt, pain, low self-esteem, and a host of other things that stick, no matter how you try to get rid of them. Drugs and alcohol, power-tripping and money were never meant to be cleansing agents, after all.
When we’ve sinned, we know in our hearts that we can’t march through heaven’s doors to be in the Father’s presence. It’s then that God tells us, “Reconciliation. Now. This instant!”. Scraping up the humility and courage to admit our wrongs out loud to another person, opens the door to an outpouring of grace and mercy more cleansing than any soap ever invented. In carrying out the assigned penance (and taking positive action against those we’ve wronged), we step away from damaging life-patterns and prepare to take our place as members of the Body of Christ.
Isn’t it time you experienced that fresh clean feeling of a spiritual bath in God’s love? Then listen to that small voice saying, “The confessional is over there. Go. Now. This instant!”
