Confess Your Sins

                        Confess Your Sins

"When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away . . .”  Psalm 32:3 Jill’s treatment of her son, Daniel, is the basis of friction between them. Jill’s failure to admit that she caused their strained relationship results in a haunting guilt.

Eve is not directly the cause of increased tension between Daniel and his mother. She is the product of her upbringing. Like people in her community she looks forward to having a large family with Daniel as head of the house. Unlike her mother, Eve wants a loving, respectful relationship with Jill. Because of Daniel’s antagonism toward his mother, Eve keeps silent until Jill’s automobile accident.

Once Daniel is married to Eve, Jill tries to ignore her son’s frustration. Because Daniel’s mother-in-law, Gertrude, is very critical of Jill, Jill feels justified in limiting her contact with the newly married couple. Jill’s alienation from her son remains hidden until she suspects he has come to visit her in the hospital. Even then she can’t bring herself to initiate reconciliation.

Eve’s disapproval of Daniel’s attitude toward his own mother nudges Daniel to change. Jill needs more than the encouragement that receives from Julie, her second cousin, or Bill’s counseling. The source of strength she needs is one she is reluctant to turn to.

Confessing you’re wrong is hard. It takes courage. The trouble with being wrong once is it opens the door to admitting you could be wrong more than once. Could Jill also be wrong about her grandmother bringing Dave to see her, about marrying Joseph, about blaming him for not caring for the children, about her mother not caring for her? There could be      so much to forgive. That’s humbling. One of the most troubling potential admissions that Jill faces is I am wrong about my father.

To protect herself, Jill concluded that she should count on no one.  Think of yourself first. Make sure your safe. Be in control. Be confident. Admitting your wrong and asking for forgiveness, goes against survival lesson Jill has learned.

Jill needed help to make this difficult transition. Do you know anyone who has a similar challenge?

Gertrude Wicksberg, Eve’s mother and a faithful member of the Orthodox Community Church, may be characterized as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Gertrude is the subject of the next blog on Baggage burdens.