On my kitchen wall is a short dictum. The counsel thou wouldst have another keep, first keep it thyself. Yesterday, I was to meet my priest, who is a very personable younger man, for ‘preparation’ which is confession to you and me. I waited but could not see him. I was told he had had an accident injuring his foot and would not be there. I am not a great fan of confession so was not too disappointed. Coming from a Protestant background it is not easy for me to be so open about my failings. The Bible says we ‘should confess our sins one to another’ however the practical aspects of this are filled with problems not least of all ones of confidentiality. It is probably best we confide in someone we can trust, in private. The priest then represents the rest of the congregation perhaps.
A priest called John of Kronstadt did try open confession with all the congregation shouting out their sins. Let’s just say it did not catch on. Confession, however, is I have found good for the soul.
I went off to St Paul’s tube feeling a little cocky that this younger man had injured himself in his folie de jeunesse, ( sparing me the rigours of the sacrament ) ‘Didn’t look where he was going’ I thought to myself sagely.
When I got to the tube it appeared that a Father Christmases’ convention was in full swing. There were Father and Mother Christmases everywhere. The guard at the barrier and I agreed such plurality of saints was confusing for children. Going down the escalator I saw a group of about fifteen Pa/Ma Christmases coming towards me on the up escalator. In my haste to take a photo I did not see that I had reached the bottom of the escalator and I was deposited unceremoniously on the hard floor. My camera was broken beyond repair. The photo is taken with the salvaged sim card.
The dictum on my kitchen wall burned into my psyche!!
Happy Christmas and thank you for bearing with me and my blogs in 2012!!
