Editorial: Let's not miss it

There's no way back from what I've done,' says the voice of regret.

It's the kind of thing many people say to themselves when they're in despair; however, that's not God's goal. His is a way forward from here, to a better tomorrow, or a better hour or even ten minutes from now.

The arguments come, inside, 'I can't undo what I did!' but God's goal is forgiveness and to move you on from it. He detests us being stuck by regrets, that's a trap to keep one from beneficial change. Instead, Jesus, the administer of Grace, wants us to learn to be better as we move from the mis-take.

Think of that word. It's like the word mis-hap or a mis-step or even a mis-nomer (the nomer part means name, in Latin. So it means to call something different than what it is, or mislabel it and so get it's significance wrong.) How many times have we done that, with a person, a moment, or a situation and then ran with that mis-under-standing. Huh, 'standing,' more like mis-under-'living', if we keep going with compounding regret.

What kind of pressures are you living under, I mean, in the world around or even self-imposed inwardly? You've heard the saying, "Misery loves company." Why do we make 'friends' with misery so easily? We rehearse our past hurts and struggles, and even nurse some of them along, and then we respond as if that pain controls our life. Wow, we are such a bunch of bumbling creatures, at times, and it's the accumulation of these which build the struggle in our lives.

So many of us re-manufacture hurtful memories, as if we're embracing an intimidating acquaintance to take with us into our next day. The voice of 'fear of the unknown' says, 'Better the devil you know.' Then, we blame others, even God, for our lack of freedom from bitterness because we don't make the choice to turn over a new leaf. In Proverbs 26:11 it says, "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool returns to his folly." MKJV We don't have to let resentment haunt our moments and pollute our expectations of the future.

Jesus has an answer, a very generous and kind one; it's called Forgiveness. Just so you know, it's for ourselves, too; it's not just what we give others. It's a faculty Jesus has in abundance, and it functions by 'Grace.' That's His ability to give us the good we clearly don't deserve, in our self-preoccupied lives. His way of curing us of 'emotional packrat-ism.' God desires to give us second chances. Not like we give, with a track record tacked on, in case someone blows it again. That's looking to say, alright, they'll never change, so why should I keep hoping for life to be better? It's just too hard to do, too much hassle.

The fact is, you make mis-takes, I do, we all do, we aren't flawless. So, if we accept that going forward, it removes much confusion and pointing of fingers. Things don't have to be perfect to be better than yesterday, anyway. That's a more realistic 'take' on things, instead of a mis-take or mis-step. In a better light, we can see things more clearly and even be lighter on those around us.

As if any one of us knows what perfect is anyhow! We only imagine what we want and call that perfect. Now that's a mis-take. Instead, with God's Grace helping us, we can start living where we're actually at, in our moments today, instead of the resentment or regrets about yesterday, in a time past.

An old Italian carpenter, I apprenticed with many years ago, used to come up to me when I was getting impatient and say, "Teke it easeh, insha by insha." For those of you who can't read Italian, that's "Take it easy, inch by inch." Besides anything I've read in the Bible, that's the best piece of advice I've ever received from someone in life. Thanks, Tony DeGoergio, you're a God send!

If we recognize today for what it is, that'll no longer be a mis-nomer. Today will be today anyway, not yesterday or even tomorrow, so why live out of sync? Jesus said, "So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own." Mat 6:34 NET Sounds like a small enough piece to get our minds around, a bit more manageable. Pretty practical for Almighty God, who'd a thunk?

There's an old cartoon commercial, for Bits and Bites snack. If you don't remember, this snack had lots of different shaped things mixed in the box. In the commercial, the character reached into the box to grab some of the snack, and when he pulled it out, he said, "Next handful, a whole new ballgame." The idea being, change is guaranteed, things are different then we expect, so let's look forward to that and recognize 'the good' waiting in it. With that understanding, we can invest ourselves there, in our moments. Later, when we glance back, maybe the moments will reveal they've come together in a pattern of something nicer in life. Hey, don't forget, Mother's Day is this Sunday. There's a moment.

To live life and enjoy our lot, we need to recognize the sun we are living under; it's the same as everyone else. Or, it can be the Son, if you will choose Him. Anyway, this can help us to empathize with others, making us more under-standing, so there won't be as many mis-under-standings. Hey, that's kinda like Tony.

A listening ear requires time, an encouraging word requires knowing someone's situation, and a smile, instead of impatience, requires a little empathy along the way. God serves us a brand new handful in each new day. Are you going to enjoy the ballgame?

God, Love Ya