May 26, 2021

Viggo Mortenson (Aragorn!) recently talked about his elderly father, who suffers from dementia. Viggo’s father has reverted back to his childhood Danish dialect. He talks about having lunch with people long dead. Viggo encourages caregivers to go with the conversation, rather than correct it.

For days, Viggo’s father talked about having left open the gate to the pig pen. Turns out that when he was a young boy during a time of real scarcity, he forgot to close the pig’s gate. The pigs got out and ravaged the garden, eating up the family food supply. He never admitted to it. Now all these years, before his death, Viggo’s dad wanted to confess his sin and clear his accounts.

Unconfessed secrets eat you alive. But they don’t have to. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) And to make matters even better for us, the One to whom we confess has already taken our sins away!

“Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.” (Confession of Sin – BCP p. 360)