Nobody can escape the agonizing losses that are part of our everyday existence – the loss of our dreams. We had thought so long of ourselves as successful, liked and deeply loved. We had hoped for a life of generosity, service and self-sacrifice. We had planned to become forgiving, caring and always gentle people. We had a vision of ourselves as reconcilers and peacemakers. But somehow – we aren’t even sure of what happened – we lost our dreams. We became worrying, anxious people clinging to the few things we had collected and exchanging with one another news of the political, social and ecclesiastical scandals of our day. It is this loss of spirit that is often hardest to acknowledge and most difficult to confess.