Confession

"Oooooh" said the priest disapprovingly as I confessed my first sin. Taken slightly aback (it wasn't murder, after all), I continued, explaining that my sins were inward, in my thoughts, as opposed to outward.   Not that it matters. Sin is sin.

As I reflected on his reaction to my confession, I realized how refreshing it was. Sin is ugly.  It's not something to be stroked and smoothed over, like fur on a fluffy cat. Most confessors strive to make us feel better about ourselves. We're really not that bad, so we shouldn't be too hard on ourselves.  Jesus loves us just as we are! (insert smiley face, unicorns, and rainbows here)

Instead, let us be faced with sin as it is- something dreadful, horrible. We hurt ourselves, the people around us, and the universal church as we wallow in our filth.

So let's just stop doing it, okay?

If only it were that easy.