An old film I enjoyed was called “Sneakers” and it starred Robert Redford. In the movie Redford and his team steal the ultimate decryption device, and its secret pass word is the phrase “There are no secrets.” With 24 hours news coverage, cameras in every cell phone and on every street corner, and the government listening in to every phone conversation and email message we make, I think having no secrets is pretty much the way things are. Yes, I may be exaggerating a little about the government, or not, but one has to agree that the time of “no secrets” is here.
Yet, that has always been the case. God and our conscience know all that we do — good and bad. We may be able to hide our misdeeds from our spouse, our family, or our friends, but usually it all comes out. We may be in denial about ourselves from time to time, I know I’ve been, but it doesn’t last.
That is why prayer and confession are so important. We can’t hide from God or ourselves, so we might as well “fess up,” seek forgiveness, and “begin again.” Prayer and confession are like taking a long bath or rain shower with good water pressure. It refreshes not only our outward appearance it washes the soul clean. That is why confession is so essential to a faithful life. We all make mistakes, we all do things we are not proud of, we all need to start over. Confession allows us to do just that. It also keeps us in constant communication with God.
Try it, and to quote another favorite movie, “It will be like you dipped your feet in magic waters.”
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