Long after he had retired, the elderly businessman confessed it was the mistakes he’d made in his life that haunted him the most.
In spite of relatively strong family ties, a good business history and many thoughtful acts, feelings of guilt robbed him of finding satisfaction and peace.
Guilt can corrode our lives like a fine acid but it doesn’t need to be that way. None of us are perfect. None of us have gone through life without making mistakes.
We could try to commit ourselves to an ultra cautious style of living devoid of adventure and mystery. I think of the quotation about ships remaining tied in the harbour where they are always safe. But ships weren’t meant to be tied permanently to the dock.
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Living life zestfully means getting out there and enjoying the life God has given us.
Sometimes we get involved where we might better have not gotten involved or we might have made a wrong decision that got us on a wrong path for a while.
We made a mistake. Confessions aren’t always possible but there is no use feeling paralyzed.
When we stumble, our obligation is to get up, get our feet under us and start over. Accept the newness of giving ourselves permission to move on.
Spiritual mentor and Benedictine sister Joan Chittister draws on Buddhist thought when she writes, “life is a process made up of many experiments, many mistakes, many learnings, many possibilities.
“Regret and guilt are two great graces of life. The key is to get up every morning determined to leave more good in my wake than pain.”
Jesus said to those about to stone the woman who had done wrong, “let he who is without sin caste the first rock.”
They all walked away.
Joyce Sasse writes for the Canadian Rural Church Network at www.canadian ruralchurch.net.
