The confessional of joy

As chair of the "Fellowship Team" at my church, I'm frequently thinking about new things we could do during our post-worship coffee hour to make it a fun and unique experience.

One idea that came up once was to create a confessional of joy.

My understanding of confession in Catholicism is that it's an opportunity to speak the things you're ashamed of, to be forgiven, and to remind yourself of who you want to be. Providing a private confessional is a valuable service, because there aren't very many places that feel safe to speak our darkest truths.

A confessional of joy, by contrast, would be a place for people to share things they're proud of. The successes they had. The times they kept trying. The great ideas they came up with. The ways they've shown kindness, creativity, persistence, and other virtues.

It's appealing to me, because I think all too often we don't have places that feel safe to share what we want to be acknowledged for.

That said, I also don't think we need a private booth to do it. Keeping this sharing anonymous perpetuates the myth that it's not really okay to talk about publicly. And it is.

All it takes is the courage to say something like this: "Can I tell you something that I'm really proud of?" or "Can I tell you something that I felt really good about today?" And then share it.

When people share their joys and successes with me, it makes my day. It doesn't matter how small or seemingly insignificant the moments are; each one is a reminder that there is more good in the world than I realized.

Right now, I'm feeling good about reaching out to my husband after a big argument. I feel good about letting my daughter listen to her choice of music without critical commentary. And I'm feeling great about getting this blog post written well before the end of the day.

What about you? What is something you did recently that you feel good about, that perhaps you haven't yet been acknowledged for? I would love to hear.