Bikini's and Confession

Today I found myself in the confessional baring my heart out to our priest.  I love that man!  He always listens with an open mind and today I found myself laughing with him in the confessional.  He has an awesome sense of humor that I love and respect to the utmost.  When he first came to the parish, I was not too impressed with him because he tended to drone on and on without going anywhere.  I stuck with him and as he droned on and on he continued to laugh at his own ramblings and tangents.  I began to love them and find humor in them as well.

 

Today, there I was in the confessional with a dilemma, one I've always had because of my grandmother.  As a young teen roaming the beaches, she thought that it was disgraceful to walk the beaches in a bikini or swimsuit of any kind. (She's the one who never bathed without her panties on)   I grew up thinking that it was possibly not good to flaunt your body around.  Of course, I didn't listen to my conscious and continued flaunting,  but as I got older, I revisited that notion.  This past weekend, by the pool in Dallas, I found myself in my bikini flaunting.

 

This is how my confession proceeded:

 

Me:  In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen

 

Me:  Bless me Father for I have sinned, it's been a few months since my last confession.  Father since my last confession I went to Dallas and missed Mass and wore a bikini.  I flaunted my body and I'm sure I caused other men to have impure thoughts.

 

Father:  <Silence>

 

Me:  <chuckle> Father, I don't know if it's a sin to wear a bikini and bare my body for all to see but I'm here to find out.  I've always wondered about that.

 

Priest:  <Chuckle, Snicker, Laugh>  "Depends on how you look in it!"  (I lie, he didn't say that!)

 

Sharlene : <giggles nervously>

 

Priest:  Well,  I don't know either but the sin is in the eye of the beholder.  Some will look at your body and see it as a Creation of God and others will see it with lust.  You have no control over how it is seen.  As long as you don't wear your bikini in church, I see nothing wrong with it.  A bikini is as inappropriate in a church,

 

Sharlene :  "as long johns are on the beach".

 

Priest: <laughs out loud> "yes"

 

Priest absolves me of all my sins and asked me to say the "Act of Contrition" which I never remember because of my nerves after confessing.  He says that it is posted right there for me to see at which time I have to inform him  that I'm almost 50, it's dark in there and I can't read it without my reading glasses.  He laughs and says "and you were wearing a bikini??!"

 

Sharlene:  <chuckle>  Yes, Father, is that a sin now?

 

Priest:  <chuckle>  No, go in peace, your sins are absolved, God Bless!

 

Sharlene:  <sigh of relief>  God Bless you Father

 

To myself, I said wow!    Destin here I come!! That was too cool and I left chuckling and giggling with such joy because it was like talking to a friend and sharing a secret.  I had a spring in my step and a heart as light as air.