Repentance for Today

Repentance is a uniquely difficult pill to swallow. It is not absolution, contrition, remorse, guilt, conversion, rehabilitation, reformation, or responsibility. It is, however, closely related to all of these. Repentance is a verb describing the reorientations of the desires of one’s heart in a way that actions are expected to follow. Repentance is the learning of a lesson. Repentance facilitates healing. Repentance sits at the root of wisdom and is the first word out of Peters mouth when asked what to do in a moment of crisis (Acts 2:38).

This is a worthy topic of conversation and thought because the adults of planet Earth face challenges that threaten the survival of our species and the stewardship of the great treasures our ancestors have passed on in collected wisdom and knowledge. Repentance is worth talking about because I rarely hear it spoken of in public, let alone taught , even though repentance is mention over 100 times in the bible. Many other sacred texts such as the Quran and Sutras make reference to repentance as a best practice toward enlightenment and life.

Shortly after Christianity was declared the official state religion by Emperor Constantine (337 CE) a group of earnest people moved out of the city into the desert. There, they wanted to heal from the injuries, habits, and harms that the society of Empire had inflicted upon the soul. They desired to live an authentic life harming no one, making no profit, and fulfilling their role in the ecosystem. There’s were often lives of repentance and they were happy. 

I recently spent three nights in the Siuslaw National Forest, part of the central Coast Range in Oregon. Sitting between the Willamette Valley and Pacific Ocean, the Coast Range is 58 million years older than their taller cousins, the Cascades. Though the Siuslaw’s humble hills are now primarily used for timber, they were once much taller peaks where dinosaurs could have roamed. I booked no camp ground and, instead, decided to dispersed camp, maximizing solitude and uncertainty. I became acquainted with many of the creatures living in the forest: elk, rabbits, osprey, and people who seem to be permanently camping. I experienced the acres and acres where a once noble and ancient forest has been scraped away giving the Siuslaw the appearance of mange.

As I sat in those ancient hills I felt the wonderful pin-pricks of contrition. I come from a timber state (Idaho) and have many relatives who have made their living in that industry. My own home in Portland is made of timber. I know that I have partially financed and benefited from the very thing inspiring my contrition. Still, I allow my heart to break. I can see that my way of life must change, then our way of life must change. It cannot go the other way around. 

For some coming out of an evangelical or charismatic faith background, repentance has been used as a weapon, a never-ending hamster wheel of trying to be ‘good enough’. Let us redeem repentance and find a place for it…. especially for any of us living a life of relative privilege due to race, class, gender, or geography repentance may be the only path of life. 

May our spirit and soul be agile, that we can each demonstrate an ability to repent of which the world must take note.