From Here On…

There are always some regrets in living life. No matter what decisions we make, we are likely to wonder what would have happened if we had done differently; and often we feel sure we should have done differently. Being human, we make mistakes. Most of us are feeling and fumbling our way in many matters, and perhaps there is almost no day we couldn’t look back upon and wish to improve – almost no day that we couldn’t wish we hadn’t said some things we have said, that we hadn’t thought some things we have thought, or that we hadn’t done some things better than we did. Life is in part a process of repentance. In a sense, progress is a process of repentance’ and the man who thinks he doesn’t make mistakes is deceiving himself. Personally, privately, publicly, there is no doubt we have made many mistakes, and our problems, our debts, our difficulties, our regrets and serious uncertainties are in part a payment for the mistakes of the past. And there is no use denying them. The future will be better if we admit our mistakes and repent and improve and not persistently pretend there weren’t any errors, and not doggedly pursue the same path and pattern. Sooner or later we pay the penalties. As Emerson observed: “Always pay, for first or last you must pay every debt.” And the sooner we repent, the lighter is the load. Having admitted our mistakes, having repented of the past, from her on is our opportunity – and there is real and solid reason for hope and faith for the future – for great is the power of repentance.