Although I doubt any of us enjoy saying the words, I wonder if there is any more often used phrase than, “I’m sorry.”  In fact, some people (myself included) probably overuse the words, even when it’s not necessary.  For example, when I hear someone has encountered a bad situation, I’m the first to say “I’m sorry.”  Not that I feel responsible, mind you.  Rather more completely said, I’m sorry they encountered whatever it was that made them upset. 

          But in that particular usage of “I’m sorry” I see for myself how casual the words are.  How easy it is to feel them roll off my tongue.  And while the aforementioned case is hardly the only time I use them, I confess myself to be human, admitting that I have used them on occasion just to be done with a trying situation.  Because, you see, sometimes, we say I’m sorry just to spare the other person’s feelings.  Not truly believing that we’re at fault, somewhere along the line we learned that if we just “say sorry,” we can move forward, away from the negative, into a positive place again. 

          And such behavior is, I guess, okay under the right circumstances.  It’s a kind of social balm that allows us all to get along with one another.  But when it comes to repentance, saying “I’m sorry” just doesn’t cut it.

          Lent is, by all accounts, a season for repentance.  A time where we examine our lives with the precision of a surveyor.  This six-week period gives us a chance to clean house.  We’re called upon to figure out what is right, true and in alignment with God’s plans and purposes and what is not. But, believe me when I tell you, when finding some deed or trait that we know isn’t of God, simply saying, I’m sorry isn’t sufficient, it is.  After all, when we’ve lied, when we’ve harbored hate in our hearts, when we’ve gossiped maliciously, is it sufficient to just say essentially, “Oops, my bad!” and move forward unencumbered by any regret whatsoever.