July 03, 2023 – B

Something is to be said for repentance
well beyond getting us into heaven when we die
(Whomever thought that one up
needs to be sentenced to a couple of years
at hard labor in the other place
on the grounds of absurdity and cheekiness alone).

Repentance restores balance and harmony,
oils the wheels of social interaction,
and returns things to the status of regular order.

Heart-felt, spontaneous, sincere repentance
is the most important step
in replacing things as they ought to be
with our own inter-being,
and within our relationships with one another.

I repent daily of all the repentance-worthy
things I have done and failed to do
throughout my life,
and I don't have to tell you, 
of all people,
how easy it is to stack them up in large piles
during the course of day-to-day living.

I repent of the choices I've made
and the ones I should have made
on a regular basis--
just to put things right with myself,
and things have to be right with ourselves
in order to live in ways that are right
with other human beings.

You know how easy it is
to make the case against yourself--
as though you are the prosecuting attorney
in the trial determining your ultimate worth
as a person of reputed value.

My advice is to simply come clean with yourself.
Say from the start of the proceedings,
"You are right! You are absolutely right!
I am appalled and ashamed of myself
for the turns I've taken
and the events I have been responsible for,
or have been an accessory to!
And with your (Taking to yourself) help
I will do better with all my actions
remaining to be done
in the near and distant future!"

It's a start to putting things as they ought to be
with ourselves,
and to keeping ourselves aware of how easy it is
to slip off the path,
lose the way,
and wander away from the ideals and values
we honor and revere
here and now (Trusting eternity to take care of itself).

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