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Lent Photo-A-Day (February 10 – March 27, 2016)

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Day 32 — Repent

Repent… This is a pretty easy word for me. What it DOESN’T mean is preaching hell, fire, and brimstone. For me it means this:

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Heaven only knows how many things I’ve “repented” of in my 64 years. The most important thing is that after understanding what Jesus actually taught about how to live in this world, I decided that’s how I wanted my life to be and how I wanted to treat people. It wasn’t a HUGE change of mind for me. I was raised in a church-going family and what Jesus taught WAS the basis of how I’d been raised.

But there comes a time in a person’s life when they have to decide what they will stand for. And once I made that conscious decision, I flipped a Uie and began to try to live like Jesus taught. It was a big deal for me because it meant someone else might know more about loving and living than I did. I still remember when it was — November 21, 1978.

Truthfully, that is the only time in my life I’ve used the word repent. I find its synonyms to be much more pertinent for my every day life. Words like “make up for”, “be sorry for”, and especially “apologize” (boy if I had a dime for every time I’ve had to do that I’d already be ON my cruise to the British Isles!).

I really don’t know what to say about this word because for me it holds such spiritual significance. The only other thing I can say is that I’ve never regretted making that decision — even in the midst of this faith struggle that goes on between me and God. It’s a decision I’ve never had cause to regret. And it’s made my life a whole lot better.

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When death, the great reconciler, has come,
it is never our tenderness that we repent of,
but our severity.
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George Eliot

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Picture Credit: mypolice.qld.gov.au