How do you "repent and turn to the Lord" when you act selfishly or destructively?
By Sue Burpo (written by Rev'd Stephanie Jenkins)
When I spoke with Sue Burpo, longtime Saint Andrew’s member, she was very clear about what she does when she acts selfishly or destructively and needs to “repent and turn to the Lord."
She told me, the first thing she does when she needs to "repent and turn to the Lord” is to grab her Book of Common Prayer (spoken like a longtime Episcopalian!). She sits quietly in her chair and offers her confession and then she sits in silence and waits and listens. Sue told me during that time of listening, she tries to be very quiet and still - especially on the inside, and listen for what God puts forth in her heart to repair the mistake she made.
I must confess, I didn’t ask Sue what she did after she heard what God put forth, my assumption is she takes action.
Action to repair our mistakes and missteps can sometimes be harder to hear an act upon, in knowing Sue, if I asked her about that struggle, I wonder if she might offer that it’s likely she needed to sit and pray with God longer over whatever course of time it took to get her heart in the space to take the action God put forth on her heart.