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Introduction

"Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation."
Psalm 51.10,12a (GNT)

Viktor Emil Frankl was a physician and psychiatrist. He survived the World War II Holocaust. His Nazi concentration camp experiences led him to wonder how any human being could maintain hope under such extreme conditions.

He came to believe that our survival depends upon finding meaning even in desperate circumstances. Frankl proposed that we have free will to choose our attitudes, even about torture, death, and dying.

He observed that those human beings whose core spirits chose to have faith in the future and who find meaning in the moment, often found the strength and the courage to face the most difficult problems.

"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way" (Victor Frankl. Man's Search for Meaning, 1946).

It is when we find the "why" we want to live that we can endure almost any "how." The "why" is our purpose. Frankl found that people with a high purpose can find meaning even in the worst circumstances. In other words, once we have a high calling we will find a way to deal with the suffering that comes our way. If, as Frankl saw, someone decides his or her reason to live is to comfort others, then even in a concentration camp he or she will still have a reason for living.

When we lose our sense of purpose, we lose a sense that our lives mean anything; and we lose hope in the future, for there seems to be nothing worth living for.

What causes us to lose our sense of purpose?

1. When our purpose is too small and too self-focused.
2. When we experience suffering and/or inhumanity that is outside our image of how the world should work.
3. When we commit acts or have thoughts that fracture the image we have of ourselves as being good, kind, and caring human beings under all circumstances. There is, however, good news. Although we sometimes lose our sense of purpose, we can be restored to a larger sense of purpose. Our ancestors in the faith have taught us that we can be renewed in a life-giving purpose in the following ways:
   1. Make a Confession: We are called to see ourselves as we really are, not as we would like to be.
   2. Make a Commitment to Turn Around: We are called not to wallow in guilt or be stuck in despair, but to step into the future with a commitment to find and live by a higher purpose.
   3. Make a Connection to God, to Others and to Ourselves: Our higher calling, our higher purpose is to be a part of the community of the faithful, choosing to live and serve as God leads us.

In this booklet we will explore these themes in Scripture: Confession, Commitment, and Connection in the hope that we may discover and embrace a new sense of purpose and meaning in our lives.

Chapter 1: God Cares For All Of Us - Confession

"Let us have confidence, then, and approach God's throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it."
Hebrews 4.16 (GNT)

From his hospital bed, a Veteran turned to the chaplain with an intense stare. He started to speak but his words froze. His chin quivered. He tried again, "Chaplain, I have done horrible things. I was just a young kid when I enlisted. I wanted to serve my country. That was my purpose. I wanted to protect my family. But honestly, I had no idea what I was getting into. I have killed people with my bare hands. And I am so ashamed. I was taught, 'Thou shall not kill.'

"I was sick after the first person I killed. I was sick after the second one, too. By the fourth one," here the Veteran stopped, looked down and whispered, "I began to feel a rush. I enjoyed it. I got a high from killing. Now I am so ashamed, ashamed beyond words. The people I killed were someone's husband, father or son."

That same morning, as the chaplain made her rounds in the Veterans' hospital, another Veteran shared his story. "You know, I've never told anyone this, but I got a ton of guilt for what I didn't do. Some of my buddies didn't come back; others came back without a leg or arm. I didn't even see combat. I feel like a failure."

Confession is, most simply, telling our innermost story, honestly. Confession is getting real with ourselves, without defense — just telling it like it is.

Confession is a radical act of faith; for to confess is to hope that there is another who will understand, forgive, and bless us into healing. Confession is one of the greatest gifts we can give God, because God does not ask us to be perfect; rather, God asks us to give all of ourselves to God, "the good, the bad, and the ugly." It is only in this gift of giving our whole selves to God that we can hope to be restored to a life-giving purpose, to a life filled with rich, deep, connected meaning.

The need for confession, to restore a sense of purpose, is as old as the Scriptures themselves. We stand in a long line of all human beings who have missed the mark of God's will for our lives. Read the following Scriptures with the assurance that we are not alone in both the need and the difficulty in raising up an honest confession to God.

Readings from the Old Testament / Hebrew Scriptures

When God brought the Israelites back home to Jerusalem, following the period of exile in Babylonia, Ezra, the priest, offered a prayer of confession on behalf of the people.

"O God, I am too ashamed to raise my head in your presence. Our sins pile up higher than our heads; they reach as high as the heavens. LORD God of Israel, you are just, but you have let us survive. We confess our guilt to you; we have no right to come into your presence."  - Ezra 9.6,15

The psalm writer speaks of the joy of forgiveness following confession.

Happy are those whose sins
are forgiven,
whose wrongs are pardoned.
Happy is the one whom the LORD
does not accuse of doing wrong
and who is free from all deceit.
When I did not confess my sins,
I was worn out from crying all
day long.
Then I confessed my sins to you;
I did not conceal my
wrongdoings.
I decided to confess them to you,
and you forgave all my sins.  - Psalm 32.1-3,5

The psalm writer turns to God for help in time of suffering.

I confess my sins;
they fill me with anxiety.
Do not abandon me, O LORD;
do not stay away, my God!
Help me now, O Lord my savior!  - Psalm 38.18,21,22

In this psalm of confession, attributed to King David, David seeks God's forgiveness for having arranged to have someone killed in battle.

Be merciful to me, O God,
because of your constant love.
Because of your great mercy
wipe away my sins!
Wash away all my evil
and make me clean from my sin!
Create a pure heart in me, O God,
and put a new and loyal spirit in me.
Do not banish me from your presence;
do not take your holy spirit away
from me.
Give me again the joy that comes
from your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.  - Psalm 51.1,2,10-12

Proverbs, one of the wisdom books of the Bible, reminds us of God's mercy.

You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins. Confess them and give them up; then God will show mercy to you.  - Proverbs 28.13

God is always ready to forgive.

Come back to the LORD your God.
He is kind and full of mercy;
he is patient and keeps his promise;
he is always ready to forgive and not punish.  - Joel 2.13b

Readings from the New Testament

Come to the Lord in prayer.

Are any among you in trouble? They should pray.
So then, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed. The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect. -  James 5.13a,16

Receive the cleansing that God offers.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and there is no truth in us. But if we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing. -  1 John 1.8,9

Jesus offers words of comfort, assuring those who believe in him that they will not be judged.

"Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, in the same way the Son gives life to those he wants to. Nor does the Father himself judge anyone. He has given his Son the full right to judge, so that all will honor the Son in the same way as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. "I am telling you the truth: those who hear my words and believe in him who sent me have eternal life. They will not be judged, but have already passed from death to life." -  John 5.21-24

Jesus came to serve God and to suffer on our behalf for the forgiveness of sins.

It was only right that God, who creates and preserves all things, should make Jesus perfect through suffering, in order to bring many children to share his glory. For Jesus is the one who leads them to salvation. He purifies people from their sins, and both he and those who are made pure all have the same Father. -  Hebrews 2.10,11a

Jesus understands your pain and, as your great High Priest, leads you into the presence of God where you will receive mercy.

There is nothing that can be hid from God; everything in all creation is exposed and lies open before his eyes. And it is to him that we must all give an account of ourselves. Let us, then, hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we have a great High Priest who has gone into the very presence of God – Jesus, the Son of God. Our High Priest is not one who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin. Let us have confidence, then, and approach God's throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it. -  Hebrews 4.13-16

Thoughts for Reflection

1. If you have lost your sense of purpose, of being of value to yourself, to others and to God, when did that happen? What made you decide you are no longer of worth?
2. What barrier stands in the way of your deciding to see yourself as someone who is valued by God?
3. What barrier stands in the way of your deciding to commit yourself to a higher purpose in your life?
4. Are you willing to believe that God can bring healing to your spiritual wounds and renew a spirit of hope within you?
5. Will you, in this moment, tell God your innermost secrets and ask God's forgiveness?

Prayer

Dear God, hear my confession. Here are the reasons I have given up on you, the reasons I have lost my sense of purpose . . . And here are the reasons I have given up on myself…

Lord, you are the God of creation. Create a new heart within me. Renew my spirit. Give me the courage to make a commitment to start over. Help me use the wisdom I have gained through suffering to help others. Help me believe that you have not forgotten me, even though I have turned away from you.

Hear my prayer. Teach me to love and care again. Amen

Next: Chapter 2: God Gives Me The Freedom To Choose »