DO YOU NEED TO CONFESS IF YOU START ON THE PATH OF HONESTY

Hello,

Being honest is not easy at all.

But confessions of dishonesty in the past is far more difficult.

If you start on the path of honesty late in life several people are likely to point fingers and say "what the hell, he had lied about so and so a few months ago" or "If he is so honest why does he not say that he had not been clean in his dealings in the past".

It will be likened to a cat becoming pious after it has feasted on 100 rats.

So how do we get rid of the baggage we carry.

Is a public confession the only way out?

Take the example of Mark Sanford. He cheated on his wife and then confessed on TV. They say he has committed political suicide. OK, so what at least he is making an effort to save his marriage and his wife appreciates the effort. And maybe this honesty will actually help him.

But he was the Governor of South Carolina and a front runner for the Republican Presidential nominations for 2012. He was cornered and if he had not confessed it would be dug out by the press that turns brutal in such matters. So in this case public confession was actually the only way out. Now if he is back into public life he can confidently say that he had been dishonest and has confessed. If he now takes the path of honesty he can save his marriage and then come back into the presidential race at a later date.

In contrast, if a layman like me decides to walk down the path of honesty what does he do with the old baggage he is carrying. I do not have access to TV and my confession would mean nothing to the TV viewers. But I have been dishonest in the past. So what do I do?

I choose the person, if any, who was hurt by my dishonesty and confess. I suppose this should suffice. Here is the guy who was hurt by my dishonesty and by confessing I give him a chance to forgive me and forget the past or punish me and get even. Once this is done I can start on the path of honesty I have now chosen.

In case I am scared of doing that I do the next best thing. I confess in front of God. I say it aloud and take it out of my system. I confess in front of the almighty that I had been dishonest. I beg forgiveness and start on the new path of honesty. The beauty of this option is that you are assured forgiveness and there is no one taking advantage of your confessions which can weaken your resolve to being a better human being. This would suffice as well.

There is no harm in the cat trying to turn pious after it has feasted on 100 rats.
Because now it chooses the difficult path. The path less trodden. The path to God.

Regards,
Manoj