Haunted
“Very early in the morning, he came to his disciples, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified and said, “It’s a ghost!” They were so frightened they screamed.”
-Matthew 15:26
Who doesn’t love to gather around the campfire and hear a good ghost story? If you enjoy tales of wandering spirits roaming the earth until their unfinished business is completed, then you’re in good company! Ghost stories are by far the most popular subgenre of horror, and, until relatively recently, sitting around a fire on a dark night and sharing ghost stories was a popular Christmas tradition.
Most ghost stories have a similar formula–an unsuspecting family moves into a new house only to soon notice that something is amiss. Small objects might seem to move from where they had been placed, things go bump in the night, and perhaps chains rattle. The heroes of our stories will ignore the haunting until they can no longer do so. Then they may take some measures like burning sage or bringing in a priest to bless the haunted house, which seems to work for a short time. But the thing about these stories is that ghosts never seem to stay quiet for long. They keep coming back. At least until the protagonist finally puts right whatever unfinished business is keeping the vengeful spirit bound to haunt the living and sets them free.
In this light, ghost stories have a lot in common with the Christian practice of confession. Now, we Methodists don’t practice confession as a sacrament the way our Catholic or Orthodox friends do, but it is nevertheless a crucial practice for the good of our souls. It’s because we know that in order to deal with our selfishness, our brokenness, our “bent to sinning” as Charles Wesley wrote, it must be acknowledged.
Reckoning with our own failures, the ways in which we hurt others, and trying to disentangle ourselves from societal systems of sin is painful and difficult work. That’s why we’d rather bury it, but just like in ghost stories, burying something rather than dealing with it is a surefire way to end up haunted by it. As Faulkner wrote, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
The other week Rev. Terry led us all in a prayer of confession that brought up memories of my childhood. It was the prayer of confession in Rite I of the Holy Eucharist (communion) service of the Episcopal church, the church of my youth. I invite you to pray it now and see if perhaps it can help you exorcise any guilt that’s been haunting you.
Almighty God,
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
maker of all things, judge of all men:
We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins
and wickedness,
which we from time to time most grievously have committed,
by thought, word, and deed, against thy divine Majesty,
provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us.
We do earnestly repent,
and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings;
the remembrance of them is grievous unto us,
the burden of them is intolerable.
Have mercy upon us,
have mercy upon us, most merciful Father;
for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake,
forgive us all that is past;
and grant that we may ever hereafter
serve and please thee in newness of life,
to the honor and glory of thy Name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Rev. Ryan Young
