"A New  Beginning"

Louisa Fletcher wrote a poem that proposes a very interesting idea – what if there were a “Land of Beginning Again”?

I wish that there were some wonderful place called the Land of Beginning Again,
Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door, and never be on again.
I wish we could come on it all unaware, like the hunter who finds a lost trail;
and I wish that the one whom our blindness had done the greatest injustice of all
could be at the gates like an old friend that waits for the comrade he's gladdest to hail.
We would find all the things we intended to do but forgot, and remembered too late, little praises unspoken, little promises broken, and all of the thousand and one little duties neglected that might have perfected the day for one less fortunate.
It wouldn't be possible not to be kind in the Land of Beginning Again;
and the ones we misjudged and the ones whom we grudged their moments of victory here Would find in the grasp of our loving handclasp more than penitent lips could explain.

For what had been hardest we'd know had been best, and what had seemed loss would be gain; for there isn't a sting that will not take wing when we've faced it and laughed it away; and I think that the laughter is most what we're after
in the Land of Beginning Again.

So 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. (1)

The good news is that there really is a land / place of beginning again – in Jesus! Jesus is, as one pastor put it, King in the Land of Beginning Again!

So, as we reflect on the year gone by (including all our mistakes, failures and missed opportunities) and look at the year ahead, may we be mindful that through the forgiveness offered us all from God through Jesus Christ, we truly have the possibility of beginning again.

Through Jesus we have the opportunity of

• continuing to grow in our faith through worship and studying the Bible
• growing closer and building our relationships with one another through fellowship
• moving out of the security of our building into our community through acts of compassion and service.

So...Happy New Year! And welcome to the land of beginning again!

Celebrating the journey, 

Pastor Scott McCormick

(1) Louisa Fletcher; “The Land of Beginning Again”