Repent early and often. Why wait till the end is near?

Last week I shared with you the “Word of Preparation” I’d prepared for our Sunday bulletin. Well, this is the second Sunday of Lent, and I thought I’d share my prep word with you again. This Sunday the theme of the service is REPENTANCE. It’s easy to understand “repentance”; it simply means to back up when we realize we’ve gone the wrong way. Unfortunately, understanding “repentance” seems to be the only easy thing about it.

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I was in grade three when my youngest brother was born and, even though he was # 8, it was still a pretty big deal. – We were Catholic and, in those days, Catholic families didn’t get either concerned or blasé till they passed a dozen. – My teacher, Miss McKay, who had taught several of the kids in the family, followed the pregnancy with interest, and was thrilled when I announced to the class that Michael Joseph had finally arrived.

I knew immediately that I had misspoken – his name is actually Joseph Michael – but I wasn’t quite sure what to do. It’s embarrassing to admit that you’re confused about your own brother’s name, even when he’s a brand new brother, and it’s a brand new name. So I just let it go.

No harm done, you might think. But, as I say, Miss McKay was very interested in the lives of her students so for the rest of the year, from February through June, she continued to ask me, every other day it seemed, about the progress of little Mike, and I continued to let it go.

I got through this embarrassing situation without being discovered, and eventually forgot the whole thing. Then one Christmas, when I was in high school, we received a lovely card from Miss McKay, with the most thoughtful little PS on the bottom, “I remember how excited Danny was when little Mike was born, Hope you are all well.”

I was inwardly mortified, of course, but by this time I’d perfected the prideful art of concealing my foolishness. I not only let it go, I joined in the speculation with the rest of the family that poor Miss McKay must be losing it.

The refusal to REPENT, to back up and admit that we’ve been foolish or wrong, is just pride. And what could be more foolish or wrong than for silly creatures like us to be proud?