When We Undertake to Cover Our Sins . . .

From the Mormon Odditorium on April 20:

It has been the doctrine of some Elders in this Church (whence they got it I do not know, without they got it from the Devil,) that all the sin you can hide from your brethren and sisters, no matter what its nature and magnitude, will not be brought against you in the day of judgment. Such persons are greatly mistaken. For the sins you commit against yourselves and you God, unless repented of and forgiven, the Lord will hold his private council and judge you according to the degree of guilt that is upon you; and if you sin against others, he will make that public and you will have to hear it. You need not think that you can hide your sins. (Brigham Young, March 10, 1860, JD 8:362.)

I am not entirely convinced that we can really hide our sins as well as we think we can. Just as we cannot see the back of our head, other people see things about us and our actions that we cannot see ourselves. They know things about us that we do not know ourselves. That can include our strengths, but also our weaknesses and our sins. Those who say that if they do not bring up their sins that no one will notice them are simply deceiving themselves.