Tuesday, July 6

You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
—Micah 7:19b

A Native American saying wisely asserts, "You cannot cross the same river twice." The river is new every moment because the water is flowing constantly and carries no memory of what it was even 30 seconds before. We long for that kind of newness and freshness in the inner cavern of our being. 

Throughout the course of our lives, protrusions, warts and actions that have been less than glorious have sullied that inner cavern, and we feel their haunting presence. Because we often find it difficult to see beyond these frailties and failings, we assume that the Holy One holds them against us as well.

The very fact that we long to be rid of them and the memories attached to them is a sign of our sorrow and a symbol of our desire for reconciliation. In the very second that we experience those signs of repentance, God moves in. 

God removes the protrusions, warts, and actions and casts them into the depths of the sea where there can be no memory of what is less than human and holy. Our lives can be new every moment. We needn't walk through the river of our shame twice.

O God, my life is sometimes less than I would hope it to be. I have done things I ought not to have done, and I have not done what I should have done. Cast your eye of mercy over me and take from me all that holds my heart in shame. In my newness make me ready to love myself and others again.

These Signposts originally appeared on explorefaith in 2003.