Turn Ye, Turn Ye: Why Guilt Leads Home and Shame Makes You Hide The pillory is gone, but public shaming isn't. Today it happens online, and it has no rules. When we sin, the Holy Ghost sends one feeling, a warning that we did something wrong, and we answer it in one of two ways: we turn into it and are healed, or we turn away from it and hide. In the week of Ezekiel, a captive people ask, "If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?" And the Lord answers, "turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?" This episode follows both turnings, from the garden of Eden to a bus tour at the edge of Heaven. Before you listen — a few caveats for every Coming Closer episode: This is not doctrine and I'm not an authoritative source for truth. But I believe asking questions is the way to come closer to Him. "Ask, and it shall be given unto you." God expects us to wonder, be amazed, and read between the lines.Leave space for the truth. This is speculation — interesting speculation, I think — but someday the whole truth will be known. Leave room in your mind and heart for it when it is revealed.I hope you'll have some Wow moments as we talk. When that happens, pause. Stop and think about why it touched your heart — maybe jot down a few ideas to pursue. The truth is absolute, but our journey to it is unique, custom made just for us, and there are moments when we simply need to stop and be amazed.What we cover: the pillory and cancel culture; Carson King, who could have hidden and didn't; Ezekiel's shuvu, shuvu; one feeling, two turnings: godly sorrow and the sorrow of the world (2 Corinthians 7:10); Adam and Eve hiding among the trees; Mormon's people, who felt it deeply and did not turn; Alma, who wished to be extinct and then cried out to Jesus; Judas and Peter on the same night, "see thou to that" and "the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter"; epistrepho, to turn around; how the devil numbs the feeling: "all is well in Zion," the flaxen cord, "past feeling," and Screwtape's gentle slope; why guilt felt in time is the door; "Where art thou?"; the Shepherd who seeks the lost; the prodigal's father, who didn't let shame finish its sentence; the woman taken in adultery and the crowd that walked away; C. S. Lewis's hiding Ghost, the offer, and a herd of unicorns; the valley of dry bones; and a summer on staff at Thunder Ridge scout camp. The closing thought: we all sin, and we all feel guilt. It helps us discern between good and bad, and it is part of why we are here. I am going to pay more attention to that feeling and keep practicing turning to Christ as soon as I feel it. When that feeling of warning comes, don't hide from it. Turn into it. He has been asking since the garden, "Where art thou?" And He is already on His way to you. Scriptures: Ezekiel 33:10–11; 2 Corinthians 7:10; Genesis 3:8–10; Mormon 2:13–14; Alma 36:14–21, 24; Matthew 27:3–5; Luke 22:32, 60–62; 2 Nephi 28:21–22; 2 Nephi 26:22; Jeremiah 6:14–15; 1 Nephi 17:45; 2 Nephi 9:14; Mormon 9:4; Alma 12:14; Ezekiel 34:11, 16; Luke 15:17–22; John 8:3–11; Ezekiel 37:1–3, 10–11. Sources: C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (1946), chapters 8–9; C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (1942), letters 12–14 and 29; NBC News and FOX 29 reporting on Carson King (2019).
