"How can I explain the importance of repentance?

"How can I explain the importance of repentance? The one who has lost the ability to repent is like a piano player who no longer has an ear for music. In principle, it may be possible to perform a piece of music using he notes only, but the impression will be terrible. Repentance is like a continuous 'self-tuning,' an opportunity to take a critical look at one's actions and to avoid mistakes.

"The one who ceases repenting also stops developing and perfecting one's self. Figuratively speaking, that person loses the ability to hear and begins to feel confused about sounds, noises, bombastic words, and rhetoric. In all religious traditions, repentance involves a very specific action. In Christianity it is the sacrament of confession, which helps a human being to develop the ability to repent, to keep one's finger on one's spiritual pulse, and to control one's moral condition." (Patriarch Kirill)

Fr. John