Guilt is a strange phenomenon. It is a much more powerful force in our lives than most of us realize. Sometimes it will play tricks on us. I heard about a little boy who, during a power blackout, was acting very guilty. When his parents asked him what was wrong, he broke down and cried. Through his sobs he confessed that on the way home from school he had kicked a power pole. He was sure his action had darkened an entire city.

That's not as extraordinary as it sounds. Psychologists have used the term scruples to describe the person whose sense of guilt over past deeds tends to restrict future accomplishments. The word scruple is derived from the Latin word, scrupulum. A scrupulum is a small pebble. When by accident a small pebble gets lodged inside one of our shoes, we feel intermittent stabs of pain as we walk. So the scrupulous person, as he walks through life, feels the intermittent agonies of his imagined guilt.

How do we deal with such guilt? In American Indian culture one way of dealing with all emotional pain is to dig a hole in the ground, lie down on your stomach, and speak out loud into the hole all your negative thoughts as well as your fears, frustrations, discouragements, and anger. Then you are to cover the hole over with dirt and "bury" those stressful emotions.

That would be a good exercise for some of us. We need to take our guilt and shame and cast them into the sea. Or bury them in the ground. After all, if a holy God can forgive us, surely it is time for us to forgive ourselves. St. Paul didn't let his past mistakes hinder him.

Ron Newhouse

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