One of Lent’s compelling narratives comes in the ritual of Confession. Its verbiage is striking: “Our fault, our own fault, our own most grievous fault.” These words suggest something more than garden-variety sinfulness or the “mortal sins” that Roman Catholics name as the most serious. Not only do we own our unrighteousness, but also openly admit its severe consequences: In a word: It’sMORE...
This entry introduces a short series of occasional blogs that will appear during Advent. Over the centuries, Advent has been a time of expectant repentance—part of our preparation for Christ to come into our lives. Today we start at the beginning of that process—thinking about confession. In my worship tradition, the liturgy begins with a signature invocation—“In the Name of the Father, the SonMORE...
Something that’s true about most of us at this time in our lives: We have secrets that almost no one knows about. Even though God’s providential and loving eyes might take in these perhaps-unknown elements of our lives, we may still harbor some ambivalence about revealing things about ourselves that have hitherto remained invisible. Our possible secrets may live in the past: Real orMORE...
BOB SITZE has filled the many years of his lifework in diverse settings around the United States. His calling has included careers as a teacher/principal, church musician, writer/author, denominational executive staff member and meat worker. Bob lives in Wheaton, IL.