Metanoia

I am writing a sermon called (wait for it) “Metanoia: Shift Happens” in a few weeks, and have been thinking about how we tend to think of metanoia as related to shame rather than grace. The word metanoia is the Greek for repent, but has come to have a wider meaning in the Christian theological tradition of the transformation of attitudes and assumptions.
The classic story of metanoia in Unitarian Universalist lore is told about the belligerent layman who battles throughout a long, contentious meeting on a difficult challenge in the parish (can someone find the source for me?). At the end of the long night, when asked by one of his exasperated fellows what he sees as the ultimate mission of the church, the man responds, “Well, I guess it’s to change people like me.”
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me
I once was lost […]