Of course the sinner must repent. But why? Simply because otherwise he
would be unable to realise what he had done. The moment of repentance is
the moment of initiation. More than that: it is the means by which one
alters one's past. The Greeks thought that impossible. They often say in
their Gnomic aphorisms, 'Even the Gods cannot alter the past.' Christ
showed that the commonest sinner could do it, that it was the one thing
he could do. Christ, had he been asked, would have said - I feel quite
certain about it - that the moment the prodigal son fell on his knees
and wept, he made his having wasted his substance with harlots, his
swine- herding and hungering for the husks they ate, beautiful and holy
moments in his life. It is difficult for most people to grasp the idea. I
dare say one has to go to prison to understand it. If so, it may be
worth while going to prison.
The wild animals honor me,
the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen...
Christ's place indeed is with the poets.
~ Oscar Wilde De Profundis
