second chances

It is midnight as I sit down and think about what I am about to write. So many thoughts are flooding my head right now about what to share, how to write it, and what subjects to touch on, that for a few minutes, the only thing I can do is just stare at this blank screen...and listen to the refrigerator hum... As someone who aspires creatively both in music and in writing to express his heart through an artistic medium, I intentionally have to look at ordinary everyday things, and pull a deeper insight, a greater meaning from them. Whether it is a book I read, conversations I overhear, music I listen to, poetry or blogs that I read, theology that I study, or people I observe, I am constantly finding that the more you take time to process more than the overtly obvious in things, that God expresses and teaches us amazing things in the details of life. Not to say that I am proposing that you do not need to simplify things ever, or make more of things than there is, I am just saying that sometimes we are to busy trying to figure out the whole story instead of reading the script.

Lately the script that has been written on my heart is the story of second chances. Of redemption. Of reconciliation. Of grace. Call it what you want, but the idea is the same nevertheless. To me, it is such a universally favored concept, yet most of us underestimate the power of the act, and the subsequent story that it produces. We all want second chances, but do we bestow grace on others? We want mulligans for our actions, but we are quick to condemn others to pay for their deeds. When did the act of condemnation start outweighing the power of reconciliation? I pray that we all read between the lines, and focus on those things that lead us, through a spirit of grace, to offer and receive second chances. I see families, torn apart by violence, drugs, money, etc... that the individuals are so guilt ridden, that all they need is hope, not scorn. I hear stories that have happy endings because a person, despite endangering themselves emotionally- and physically for that matter, have mended the heart of someone who had lost all hope. I see people, who instead of seeking unity and reconciliation to those whom they have disagreed in the past, actually digging through everything they can, albeit that they would have had no other desire before the rift to concern themselves in anything the other might have said, to find if they can conjure up any small disagreement. How is this good? I believe that we should know what we believe in, that we should be bold concerning truth and morality, but with graceful spirits and loving demeanour. Truth be told, none of us deserve second chances, and I thank God every day that he has been merciful in not giving me what I deserved. And we are to bestow this love on others. Good or bad. Pretty or ugly. Single, divorced, separated, widowed. Black, white, yellow, red. Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, Baptist, Non-denominational, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Atheist. Rich, poor. Whether they have burned you once or twenty times. Love others.

You see, I want to be a person who is rooting for that divorced mom. My natural inclination is to demonize her for the decisions that got her into the position she is currently in, but who am I? I want to be the person who respects the views and human rights of homosexuals. Hopefully they can see the love of Christ shining brighter in me than the condemnation and hatred. I am for them, as Christ's sacrifice is. I want to see human sex-slaves rescued, and victims healed. I pray that the woman who just walked out of that clinic will experience healing and restoration through Christ. I am for them, as Christ's sacrifice is. I am for the older generation who are dealing with the ghosts of the past, and think that redemption cannot conquer time and upbringing. I pray for second chances. I want to root for the the frat guy, the local grocer, the rape victim, the neighbor next door, the friend from high school, the boss, the enemy. I pray for second chances, I pray for unity. I pray for reconciliation.

As I typed this, and re-read it, my inadequacies as a human being and as a sinner fog my mind. I am not saying I am by no means perfect, and there is no one person that has not been guilty of being dis-graceful to another human being. I thank God every day for His Son, who by His love for us, humbled himself as a man, wrapped Himself in flesh, and came to die my death to reconcile me to Him. To offer grace to me, and to extend an opportunity of a second chance. I say these things in His name, for my adequacy is in Him, and my message is His. Grace flows freely. Redemption is here.

Selah