I am currently reading your 'Generous Orthodoxy' book. I wondered what you think of penance within the context of the Catholic church?
Anything that insinuates we need to earn or merit grace or forgiveness is, to me, dangerous and untrue. There’s another way to look at penance – not as earning or meriting grace or paying for sins, but as a first step in obedience once one is assured of repentance and forgiveness, like a parent who scolds her children after fighting and then says, “Now I want you to go outside and swing on the swingset.” She tells them to do something peaceful and productive to get them going on a positive path again. I could imagine an act of penance being given and received in this spirit, and being a helpful thing.