Sharing Your Dark and Twisty Places
“You have to let people discover all your dark and twisty places inside because those are the people that can show you what’s real, when you can’t see that yourself.
The film Words on Bathroom Walls tells the story of Adam, a witty, introspective teen diagnosed with a mental illness during his senior year of high school. After experiencing a psychotic break at his school, his parents relocate him for a fresh start to St Agatha’s, a private Catholic school. In their first meeting, when the head master inquires if he is ready to join St. Agatha’s, Adam answers, “The only person that can’t reject you is Jesus, right?”
As he struggles to keep his illness a secret, Adam asks Father Patrick about the reason for confession. While Father Patrick initially dodges the question, later he responds;
“Actually telling someone our sins gives us the opportunity to admit we are flawed. . . Everyone is flawed. But admitting our flaws, that gives us the opportunity and the strength to face them. And that’s why we confess.”
At the end of the film, after discovering his need to depend on others, Adam shares:
“As for honesty. . . you have to let people discover all your dark and twisty places inside because those are the people that can show you what’s real, when you can’t see that yourself. It can be the beginning of everything, if you let it.”
Key Texts
Psalm 32:3–6 (ESV):
For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.
Psalm 32:5 (ESV):
I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
Proverbs 28:13 (ESV):
Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
Daniel 9:3–12 (ESV):
Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.
Mark 1:5 (ESV):
And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
Acts 19:18 (ESV):
Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices.
James 5:16 (ESV):
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
1 John 1:9 (ESV):
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Key Topics
authenticity
confession
community
forgiveness
sin
vulnerability
Source
Walton, Julia. Words on Bathroom Walls (New York: Ember, 2018).
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