Good evening. I don't know about all of you, but I found this chapter to be quite a puzzle.
I hope our disscussion helps put the pieces in place.
Lauren goes to extreme lengths to make her confessions. Yet, even after traveling 2 hours from home, why do you think she is still reluctant to fully confess her sins? What are your thoughts/reactions to her approach to confession?
On page209 she expresses her concern over looking ordinary and normal and not impressive or kindred in Father Peter's eyes. This concern seems contradictory to the wonderful analogy she gave between her teacher and a loving, forgiving God who accepts us as imperfect individuals. Is confession more psychological then theological for her?
There are numerous references throughout this chapter to God, Jesus and Heaven being up above us. In what ways do we draw closer to and connect with God? Does a private vs public confession strengthen our connection to God?
This chapter is titled Eastertide. How do all the threads of this chapter connect to the resurection?
21 comments:
Yours are profound questions. I don't know how to respond and I hope someone else does. I think she is right that a private (or would that be considered public?)confession to someone else makes you think about your sin and become more aware of the need for forgiveness. It provides the priest as a stand in for Jesus who became flesh so that we feel closer to him and he could stand in for us. However, Lauren is still a very young person and as that is insecure about how others view her. On one hand she seem like a kid on the other she is very insightful.
I think she puts a lot of stock in "ritual." Thus, she wants very much to go through the "motions" of confession.
I did like the way she said that not going to confession (p. 214) makes her feel too full - not in a good, overflowing way, but in a eaten-too-much way. The confession - and absolution - "restores her balance" (my words).
Kim, what are you thinking? One thing this chapter shows is that we mortals can't fulfill God's commandments perfectly and Lauren for one seems very guilty about this. She needs the priests validation that she is forgiven. She is struggling to not worry about what others think of her in being a Christian. It was hard for her to reveal to her father that she was in fact a Christian.
Kim, I agree with Connie in that I do not know how to answer your questions ... the author is so conflicted/confused and the way she writes about her thoughts and experiences is not quite linear enough for me to make sense of it. I would be interested in more of your thoughts - they are always so good.
I agree, Patricia. I thought is was a wonderful way to describe the unburdening confession provides
I hate to say it but I think what Lauren is looking for above all else is a stable, supporting relationship with a man, which is what her father seemed to think too. How about it ladies, I won't be upset if you take after me for this comment.
Sorry, I was having difficulty getting my posts to go through.
I found this chapter to be very challenging. Lauren is very complex in many ways and seems to be searching for connections in her life. Not just with God but with all the people in her life.
While, I think of God as always being with us, she seems feel to always be striving to make a connect. I was struck by how many times she made reference to God as being above her - as in out of touch - the striving to connect
I had two favorite parts of this small section: the story of God being like the 3rd grade teacher from whom Lauren had stolen a quarter (207) and god "putting away our sins" as if in a dresser drawer (211). So many of Lauren's thoughts do not resonate for me, but I loved both of these!
The more I read of this book, the more I find myself trying to "figure out" Lauren. She seems to have some unresolved "Daddy Issues". So, Connie, I think you're right on track.
I cannot disagree with you Connie. To me, she is a "follower" and you are right that she has serious trouble connecting with people.
Patricia, I agree, I thought those were wonderful illustrations of confession. I also was struck by the priests comment that after leaving the alter, he could never remember a single thing the penitent said.
Yes, that "remembering the sins" comment was beautiful!
So, it seems she is motivated by the ritual of confession and the emptying out of her transgressions, but her disire for acceptance by others gets in the way.
A comment like the priest's certainly made her feel more secure and willing to continue confessing. I have never really had a confessional experience like she but I can see how that would really make us examine our lives a lot more than we do now in our communion services. I guess I have this secure feeling that God loves me and forgives me and I don't feel the need to dwell on things, but my inner voice really makes me seriously consider everything I do.
See, I knew you would hit it! "My desire for acceptance" could be the book's subtitle. Not that it is wrong to want to be accepted or to write a book about it, but it does wear a little thin ...
Is the the connection to Easter that we are all accepted and forgiven?
Thanks for joining in this evening. I look forward to finishing the book discussion next month.
Well connected - you have a gift to make sense of her writing!
In reviewing Luther's Small Catechism, The Office of the Keys and Confession, " Luther states that "When we confess our sins to our pastor and ask for forgiveness (absolution) of such sins as especially burden our conscience, we receive the comforting assurance that these sins are forgiven." That is especially true in Lauren's case. Luther states that "before God we should plead guilty of all sins, even those which we do not know, as we do in the Fifth Petition of the Lord's Prayer and in the General Confession." He state that a Christian should not be compelled to make a private confession but if deciding to do so may confess those sins "which we know and feel in our hearts."
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