Thanks for stopping by. I used to write here. But I don't anymore.
I'm Jon Swanson.
Social media chaplain. Author of "Lent For Non-Lent People" and "A Great Work: A Conversation With Nehemiah For People (Who Want To Be) Doing Great Works." Writer of 300wordsaday.com. I help people understand. Understand some of the Bible. Understand what Lent can be about. Understand what it means to follow.
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Our sins Jon, are not entirely our own and our confession to our community of friends seems very much a part of loving our neighbor as ourselves. Confession for me is about realizing that you are part of a community. One that you may not have served well by your actions.
For this reason, the “Confiteor” is one of my favorite prayers.
I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and what I have failed to do; and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin,all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.
We are also reminded of our capacity to forgive one another, as we are called to do in John.
22And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
As you know friend, you have already been forgiven.
Thanks for your openness with us all.
when thinking about these things in ourselves
how did Jesus think we’d feel ?
should we feel guilt and kinda bad about ourselves (how i am feeling often the more i consider my life choices)
or simply feel rejoiceful that i always am given another chance to be even more then i am right now.
i’d have many confessions
but i usualy let them stay with me
so
when a person confesses
is it expected for them to let them go
take forgiveness and move on to trying harder?
questions with no solid answers
maybe the best kind
tricky though they may be
ah dear friends you ask wonderful questions. and i’m gone til tomorrow.but i’m thinking that God comes running to us when we confess. mostly because that’s what Jesus said when he told a story about a couple of boys and their dad.
i’ll be back to it.
Beautiful. Honest and raw. Thanks for the inspiration.