Most of us have something in our lives for which we have been ashamed. Until we can reckon with our past, our present and future will always be shackled to our past. This reckoning may mean forgiving and accepting ourselves. It may mean forgiving and accepting someone else, a group, a nation, a race, etc. When we can accept the good, the bad, and the ugly of our past, we will never be able to see the beauty that came out of the pain and perhaps because of the pain. When I think of the strength, insight, and wisdom I gained from my ordeal with mental illness, two marriages which ended in divorce, and being exiled from the Pastorate for twenty-five years, my reckoning and reconciliation turns my shame into gratefulness.
To be grateful for your life with all its twists, turns, and dips is a gift. The key is to always look for ways to turn the negatives into positives. It is difficult to forgive yourself and those who hurt you, but it is a great blessing to be able to live free from the shame, hurt, and embarrassment. Once we reconcile with our past and share it, the burden of shame and guilt melts like ice and snow melting from a rooftop. As we emerge from the fall and winter, a new season arrives allowing us the opportunity to become renewed also. Regardless of how bad things are or will become, when the storm passes over, the cleanup begins, and life resumes. Three U.S. cities, New York (1776), Chicago (1871), and Atlanta (1917) were devastated by great fires causing major destruction, but the rebuilding of those cities made them even greater in beauty and influence. If we discipline ourselves for success daily, with the help of God, we can experience rebirth every day, and turn yesterday’s ashes into tomorrow’s beauty. It is never too late to change.