"... Contrition is a word that has fallen out from our vocabulary, though it remains a powerful call to one of the deepest places of worship. As David discovered, it is not an easy call to answer; it runs counter to our instinct to run, calling us instead to come near with a broken heart, with our own disappointment. The word "contrite" derives from the Latin word contritus, meaning pulversized or ground to pieces. While this may be exactly the fearful condition we seek to avoid, it is not a word meant to describe what God will do to a running child when he is finally caught. Rather, it describes what happens to a child's heart when she catches a glimpse of the mess inside it. Yet, in the wilful act of allowing our hearts to be broken in pieces by our own sin, it is here that God and God's mercy are nearest. The shattered soul is far closer to wholeness than the one who refuses in fear or vanity to see that it is in pieces at our own hands. To be contrite is to stop running and to turn without panic or pride to the one who has been running with us all along. ..."

http://www.rzim.org/usa/usfv/tabid/436/articleid/10713/cbmoduleid/1133/default.aspx