Meta-WHAT?

"John the Baptizer appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."

-Mark 1:4

Linguistic factoids fascinate me. It’s probably why I loved studying Ancient Greek in college. Take the word “metanoia” for example. It’s a Greek word found all over the New Testament in various forms, and it is translated into “repent”, or “repentance”. As the saying goes, though, a lot is lost in translation.

I didn’t give much thought to the concept of repentance. I was always taught that repentance means going to Church, follow the 10 commandments, being nice to people, all that stuff. Simple enough, right?

Several months ago I was listening to a presentation about a retreat center located in upstate New York, when the speaker used this remarkable word. Metanoia. The word resonated with me. I'd heard this word several times before, but it didn't hit me quite the same way as it did during her presentation. I can’t remember the context in which she used it, but I most certainly remember that word. So I went on one of my little linguistic quests.

I discovered that the word literally means “change of mind”. As I pondered this idea, I started to really get what “repentance” is all about. It’s not just recanting a former life, or suddenly acting in a manner befitting a good little Christian. Essentially, metanoia is changing the way we think, so that we can in turn change the way we live. We don’t just turn away from sin; we also turn toward something else: toward the Lord. And in our turning to the Lord, we are changing the way we think about our relationship with the Lord. In the Lord we no longer mindlessly exist for our own selfish desires, but consciously live out every aspect of our lives according to God's will.

Is this an easy task? No way. Metanoia is ongoing in my life, a series of little changes, little light-bulbs popping on, little steps away from the things that keep me from living a fully human life as God intended and toward the real me that I am meant to be. Do I have a really long way to go! Between my “past” creeping up and biting me in the butt and my own stubborn will, change is nothing short of difficult.

But the results are so worth the effort.