Repentance and Regret:

"Repentence is not a virtue, that is, it does not arise from reason. Rather, he who repents what he did is twice miserable." -Baruch Spinoza

So what then of the repentance of the Bible? Is it necessary?
There are two definitions given for repentance:

1] to turn away from sin and reform one's life
2] to feel sorry for something done; regret.

But if regret is bad, making us "twice miserable", then why bother. Is it really necessary to 'confess' to God (or man) if we recognize we've done something that we shouldn't have and don't wish to do again. If the recognition and decision/resolve to 'turn away' is there, are confession and repentance not redundant?

I cannot bring myself to agree that I should dredge up old 'sins' and misdeeds deliberately during "prayer time" to confess and repent and ask forgiveness for something that as far as I'm concerned is over and done with and not to be repeated if it can be helped. Isn't it better to live with no regrets (because regret holds us in the past, often to the detriment of our present) but vow to learn from the situations that are now undesirable (i.e. regrets)--I mean, isn't that what regrets are, decisions made that seemed like a good idea at the time, but (for whatever reason) are no longer viewed positively.

The definition of regret is as follows:
regret - to be sorrowful for something that is beyond your control to remedy.

Essentially, regret is a waste of time. It's like the Serenity Prayer: "God grant me the ability to change the things I can, and to accept the things I cannot." If regret is a part of repentance, and regret essentially makes you miserable, then no wonder I was miserable when I was going to church... it's structured into the program! But that's another topic.

We are tortured with regret by constant confession rather than taught to live a life of 'no regrets', which does not mean not living, but rather leaving the past where it belongs--in the past--and learning from your mistakes.

Until next time...

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.