My dad had a lot of work to do that day on the translator station. Sometimes he would get up on the telephone poles and work on an antenna. If he needed a tool, I would throw it up to him. Since it was so high, I usually had to try a few times before he got the tool. But most of the time I wasn’t busy.
Being in that quiet place, high up on the mountain, with the peaceful town below, made me do some more thinking. I needed to change. I had often heard about repentance in Sunday School and church, but I had never actually done it before. I knew it was time to do it.
I walked down the mountain and found a big rock. I got behind it so my dad wouldn’t be able to see me. I was going to kneel down and pray. I was ashamed of myself and I didn’t want him to know I had to repent of something.
I knelt down. I started my prayer. I thanked the Lord for the beautiful world. Then I got to the matter at hand. I explained that I had become careless in the words I was using. I wanted to change that. I emphasized that I had never used his name in vain, but that I had used other words that were offensive. I said, “Heavenly Father, I repent of swearing and I ask Thee to forgive me of this wrong.”
I ended the prayer and then waited a few minutes there by the rock. I could see a truck down in the valley below. It sped along a dirt road and I saw a cloud of dust billowing up behind it. But I heard no sound. The vibrations of the engine, the tires, and the friction of the air were lost to me by the distance. I had distanced myself from swearing, too. The sound of those words was now lost to me. I walked up the mountain to the shack where my dad was still working. I felt much lighter. I was free of a burden of guilt. In all honesty, I need to say that since then, I have had to repent again and again of saying certain things. But that day, I learned how I could shake off something that was troubling me and become a better person because of it.
Coming Tomorrow: The Fathers Day Writing Contest
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