-- True Repentance --

John Herlihy

We now live freely in a world that can do no wrong;

We think we can do what we want, sing our song.

The lack of accountability has become an obsession;

No one thinks of repentance, much less confession.

Yet, there it is, to admit that we have done wrong;

Admitting our misdeeds echoes as a sacred gong.

We will need to give account for every transgression;

Repentance only begins when we make a confession.

Still, the trend now to escape by uttering right words,

Confessing to our crimes with all the weight of songbirds.

Celebrities, politicians, and all those people prominent

Use the trick of confession to avoid censure imminent.

Confession with words drawn from the depths of the soul,

Words of deep meaning seeking to become again whole.

Not words, like the brush of a feather, to enhance our image;

Not words designed only to preserve our sense of privilege.

Wrong-doing steals privilege of its premier sense of right;

Regret enters our consciousness as a firefly beaming at night.

That sense of sorrow that comes from awareness of our evil;

That sense of resolve that ushers forth as an instinct primeval.

An element yet missing for repentance to land its true mark,

A sacred vow of commitment to round off the spiritual arc.

Never again to repeat the misdeed, to eradicate the offence,

To wipe one’s tablet clean through an aware act of repentance.

The greatest of all faults lies in being conscious of none,

To weave an intricate fabric in our lives from deceit spun.

Worse, to know we have done wrong, yet accept its fate,

To end up always praising ourselves while we other berate.

Thus spoke Maimonides, a Jewish philosopher of ancient times;

Who understood well humanity capable of horrendous crimes.

To confess, to feel sorry, to vow never again, the deed slain;

The three essential elements of repentance to avoid the profane.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Thursday 22 April 2021