An Elder was once asked when the soul acquires humility. He answered, "When it thinks about its own vices."
For years, two patient priests have listened to long, funny stories, fielded earnest theoretical questions, and been subjected to cartloads of charm, but heard very few genuine confessions from me. Confession still makes me uneasy: it is all about exposing the most hidden, shameful aspects of myself to another human beaning. And the only time I am willing to go through it is when keeping those secrets is more painful than the embarrassment of revealing what I've so diligently pushed out of sight and out of mind.
But none of this is easy. Psalm 19 recognizes our difficulties in dealing with concealed sin, which we can easily ignore for so long we lose aware of its presence.
-- Paula Huston, simplifying THE SOUL
