Monday in The Week of The 5th Sunday in Lent

For I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

--Jeremiah 31:34b

A former mentor described it as follows: "God buried our sins in an ocean of forgiveness, and He placed a floating sign in the water that says 'No Fishing Here!'."

But still we fish. Our memories, not all of them good, tend to linger. With Cher, our souls sing out: "If I could turn back time... ." We try to come to a point where "Regret is but a memory written on my brow, and there's nothing I can do about it now" (Willie Nelson), but that effort doesn't always succeed. (Rationalizations rarely do.) We still fish.

God doesn't run a bait and tackle shop. The fact, according to Jeremiah, is that God will have no memory of our sin. The bad data is deleted and the "caustic assets" of our faults and failures are wiped away. The reality of life -- and its joy! -- is forgiveness. That's the point that Lent, Holy Week, and Easter attempt to make!

PD