Glorious light………. follows confession

Saturday of this past weekend I gave an all day seminar to a group of great folks over in St Louis.
I really enjoyed the day and the people were a fun group. Several times during the day the image, above, was on the screen. Every time I saw it , I was reminded of the wonderful friendship I have enjoyed with the man in the picture. I was also reminded of how fallible I am. Cliff Zenor is a really special friend, a wonderful photographer, and a forgiving soul. In the workshop business the way you break in is working as an understudy to those with more experience than yourself. Cliff came to work for my company, at the time, The Great American Photography Weekends. Cliff worked hard and became a very important asset to the company. His hard work paid off and he was soon being sought after by other workshop companies. Knowing he had risen as far as he could in the GAPW, he accepted a job with Joe Van Os Photo Tours. I hated to see him go and honestly I was hurt. I shouldn’t have been, it was the right thing for him to do. I shared my hurt with my shareholders and used a word that I should have never used in the email, betrayed. As almost a punishment for my unwise words, Cliff got a copy of the email and it hurt him deeply. In retrospect, I don’t blame him, what I said was wrong, I had made a terrible mistake, and treated a wonderful friend, badly.

I tried to apologize and explain, but Cliff was still too hurt to communicate with me. Years past and every time I saw the image above I felt terrible about what had happened and that I had lost such a real friend because of my careless use of that word. I have to confess that I carried a great deal of hurt myself because of the my lost friend, and I had to accept that it was all my fault. I left several messages on his answering machine, but never heard back from him.

A number of years later I was diagnosed with colon cancer. I was on my way to Lexington to have the surgery when my cell phone rang, the display said, “Cliff Zenor”. I answered the phone and was greeted with my lost friend expressing concern for me and a desire to renew our friendship. It was the medicine I needed the most. Restoration is such a wonderful gift from God. We had a tearful conversation, and immediately hurts were forgiven, and our friendship renewed.

The cancer was treatable with just surgery and my relationship with Cliff was restored. I would have endured the cancer for just that! I think that a key factor in this wonderful story of a relationship being restored is, confession.

We can never hope to have our sin dealt with until we are willing to confess to the one offended, and our God who forgives.

confession |kənˈfe sh ən|
noun
1 a formal statement admitting that one is guilty of a crime : he signed a confession to the murders.
• an admission or acknowledgment that one has done something that one is ashamed or embarrassed about, that may have hurt others.

Confession opens the door to God’s forgiveness and to restoration with the one you’ve hurt. I love Cliff dearly, and the reality that my foolish, untrue words, could have separated us as friends forever is a devastating thought. Thank God, it didn’t, and thank you Cliff, for your forgiveness…..

Confession promotes healing. Is there anyone that needs to hear your confession? Do you know how good it will feel when God restores your relationships? Do you know you must carry the burden of your sins until you do confess?

Trust me, as hard as it is to do, it’s well worth it……….

the pilgrim