Forgive me

I’ve recently seen a couple of movies that have confessional scenes. I’ve never been in a confessional. I’m not Catholic. And being the critic I am of church and state and institutionalized control, I never cared for the idea of confession as a requirement in life. But I suddenly realize that maybe there’s something to it—something positive, something useful.

Maybe the act of revealing your shortcomings (I’m not comfortable with the word “sins”—it’s part of a whole mindset or belief system that I don’t want to participate in and to which I strongly object) to someone else can be healing. That’s sort of what (psycho) therapy is about, right?—you talking about your life and someone else, supposedly neutral about the whole thing, helping you see what’s good and what’s not.

I think confession is supposed to be anonymous. Again, I’m not Catholic, so I’m not completely sure. But if you always go to the same church it’s gonna be one of a few priests in there, right? Or maybe always the same guy. So not really anonymous. Some people may find comfort in that—confessing to the same person over and over. He can notice trends and warn against ongoing problems. But true anonymity would sometimes be a plus—you know, with the really shameful stuff.

Maybe we should all take turns confessing to each other. And forgiving each other. It just seems like that would have to be good on the whole.