Pastor’s Column

Beginning again

The opening lines of a poem by Louisa Fletcher express this plaintive wish: “I wish that there were some wonderful place called the ‘Land of Beginning Again,’ where all our mistakes, and all our heartaches, and all of our poor selfish grief could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door, and never be put on again.

One of the unfortunate realities of life is that, in moments of weakness or poor judgment, we say and do wrong, hurtful things. In marriages, friendships, work associations, and other relationships, our actions sometimes give offense or cause harm to others. Or we may have sinned against the Lord and be at odds with our own conscience.