Yesterday, at church, we prayed a corporate prayer from The Book of Common Prayer. "Almighty God . . . We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we from time to time most grievously have committed, by thought, word, and deed, against thy divine Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us . . ."
My typical sins for so long were what some call sins of omission, not commission, detailed in the above prayer. Because of the sins against me as a child, I had shrunk, and resisted becoming responsible. This kind of behavior can be called sin, but it is a different kind of sin than the one we confessed together in our pews.
I believe it is in a Eucharistic prayer that we sometimes pray, "Forgive us for coming to this thy table for solace only and not for strength . . ." That was my sin. My only strength was tenacity. I was going to survive. But my survival was ugly.
I remember the day that I brought home a phrase from our prayer book, declaring that our home would be characterized by "unity, constancy, and peace." I began making peace that day as I risked loosing everything I thought I had.
Accurately identifying our sins is a significant first step toward wholeness. Then doing what we wish Jesus would do for us, is a step toward maturity.
My typical sins for so long were what some call sins of omission, not commission, detailed in the above prayer. Because of the sins against me as a child, I had shrunk, and resisted becoming responsible. This kind of behavior can be called sin, but it is a different kind of sin than the one we confessed together in our pews.
I believe it is in a Eucharistic prayer that we sometimes pray, "Forgive us for coming to this thy table for solace only and not for strength . . ." That was my sin. My only strength was tenacity. I was going to survive. But my survival was ugly.
I remember the day that I brought home a phrase from our prayer book, declaring that our home would be characterized by "unity, constancy, and peace." I began making peace that day as I risked loosing everything I thought I had.
Accurately identifying our sins is a significant first step toward wholeness. Then doing what we wish Jesus would do for us, is a step toward maturity.
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