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PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY
through suggestion for a real spiritual release,’ writes Miss
Graham A. Ikin.!
Part of the psychological value of penance is in the fact that
it does not give the penitent a chance to hurry from his
confession, convinced that by the mere mechanical enumeration of
his sins and mistakes he has been freed from his past. The
confessor is not a bankruptcy judge who can by a gesture relieve the
penitent of his creditors.
Every confession should be a new beginning, introduced and
marked by some established exercise or form of restitution. In
this connection a psychological truth is relevant. As many
physicians for mental disease have discovered in the course of
their practice, if a person can be induced to begin a positive
course of action something of critical importance occurs within
him that greatly increases the possibility of restoring him to
health.
Correctly conceived and practised, an evangelical act of
penance is nothing more than penitence translated into action.
This means applied willingness to do what hitherto one has
neglected; to train oneself to prevent a repetition of old
mistakes; to seek solitude wherein to search for the source of sin
and thus acquire deeper self-knowledge. This conversion of
penitence into action effectively prevents the confession of sin
from deteriorating into vagueness and sentimentality or from
being a way of escape from personal problems. On the contrary,
confession and penance together bring the penitent face to face
with the realities of his life and conduct and give him the means
to overcome the enemies within.
1 The Background of Spiritual Healing, Geo. Allen & Unwin, London, 1937.
88
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