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.
