What is Repentance?
Those who want
to grow must do the work of repentance. To “confess sins” means to
recognize evils, to acknowledge that they exist within us and to be
accountable for them, all with an appeal to the Lord that these
evils be removed. The work of repentance means simply to desist
from giving these evils expression and to live one’s life according
to a new, heavenly inspired set of rules.
One who
generally agrees that there is a better life, but does not act on
it, isn’t doing the work of repentance. Those who take on the work
of repentance because they feel compelled to do so by an external
agent aren’t likely to make any spiritual progress, because
repentance must be done in freedom. Usually, those who repent out
of fear revert to old ways once the threat is removed, and so don’t
really gain anything spiritually. Likewise, those who merely give
lip service to repentance do not make progress, because external
efforts aren’t productive without internal agreement and
participation.
(paraphrased from a portion of Arcana Coelestia, or Heavenly
Secrets, 8387-8394)
Why
is Repentance important?
The Lord
delights in purifying our life, but because we live in freedom the
Lord doesn’t purify that which we want left alone. If we decide
that we want to continue in this less-than-heavenly
thought/feeling/behavior, it becomes by our decision a part of our
character, that is, we
internalize
and
confirm
it within ourselves. If, on the other hand, we decide that we wish
to be rid of it, the Lord guides and supports our efforts to
change. In short, the Lord, out of love, does not change in us what
we want to retain.
The whole purpose for our life is
to establish a lasting connection with heaven. Evils interfere with
that connection, and if we internalize and confirm them, they
interfere permanently. To the extent that we are able to resist
making evils a part of us, heaven is able to communicate with us,
and we are thus able to make heavenly contributions to the world
around us.
“For
man is withheld by the Lord from evil, and is held in good; and he
can be withheld from evil in the other life in so far as he had
resisted evil in the life of the body…”(Arcana Coelestia, no. 8393)
How
do we recognize evil?
Evils are that
which flow from the loves of self and of the world, that is, the
human tendency to regard self-serving and world-serving things as
most important in our life. Evils work in opposition to our
inherent love for the Divine and for true community between people.
When we maintain
our connection with heaven through worship or meditation or simply
by living a life in accordance with all the most heavenly things one
knows, our ability to recognize evil is sustained by the Lord. (Apocalypse
Explained, no. 1148)
