We all do it, don’t we?

And does it leave an uncomfortable feeling? Well perhaps it does because some resolutions are more serious than others.

‘I’ll sort out my neighbour’s wheelie bin’, is far less serious if broken than, ‘I’ll stop giving the office junior a hard time’.

Broken promises and resolutions litter our lives. It’s part of being human and being imperfect.

Most of the time we can handle that, but sometimes the debris gets in the way big-time.

It sours relationships, guilt piles up and memory curdles. Fortunately we can turn to God to lift that burden off our shoulders if we are sincere in our sorrow and resolve to do better.

And there are many ways of doing that. There are many people who are down on their luck who find their way to the Cathedral for food, warmth or just a space for quiet.

I remember a guy coming into church who had just learned that his mother had died. There was nowhere else that he could go on that Sunday afternoon to shed a quiet tear.

There is often guilt associated with bereavement but some folk come in specifically to share a guilty secret either with God alone or with a member of staff.

They are all treated seriously, with great courtesy and respect. Invariably they go out feeling so much better.

Of course there is much cynicism and humour of the Dave Allan sort surrounding the confessional which is to be found at the formal end of the forgiveness business.

But there are other ways of improving life apart from Sacramental Confession which is still practised in the main-stream Roman, Anglican and Orthodox Catholic churches.

Life gets better with a graduated response from, ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’, through the comfort and encouragement of an objective voice to finding the courage to say sorry in person, it that is possible.

Forgiveness is a core value in the Christian faith. I know; I’ve been there!

The Very Rev. Christopher Armstrong Dean of Blackburn