Remember the day, long before a chalkboard
You probably wrote in the sand
When it didn’t look right, you erased
Smooth it out and start all over.
Remember the days of that Etch-a-Sketch.
Tediously you twirl the dials moving the lines
Drawing intricate designs. When done or made wrong?
Turn it upside down. Shake. Voila! Gone.
Remember the days when nothing seems to be going right
You crumpled the paper of your wishes and dreams
Toss it aside; if you’re lucky, File 13 catches the toss.
But it’s more difficult the older we are to Erase and Restart.
Why? We are a long way from that distant starting point.
Friendships and relationships are lost
There’s no way to start at the beginning again.
Instead, you hopefully erase the past.
“Let’s try this again.” You can never restart.
Only treat it as new. Again. Again. Ad nauseum.
This morning I’m thinking of all the crumbled experiences
Lying around the table of life. Tossed hither and yon.
Will you ever pick up those pieces, erase the loss,
And try again to restart those connections.
Throwing away a connection just because something was not right
Does not absolve any of us from our familial or friendship relations.
I’m worth it, as are you, for both of us let “bye” begone.
Forget the past, says Paul, “Reach Forward.”
We pause. Waiting on the other one to make a move.
For a long time, we will stand in our respective corners
Unwilling to be the first. Who gets to decide?
Perhaps the one with the most to lose.
Luke 15:18-24 NKJV
I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,
and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
Make me like one of your hired servants.” ‘
“And he arose and came to his father.
But when he was still a great way off,
his father saw him and had compassion,
and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
And the son said to him,
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight,
and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants,
‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him,
and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.
And bring the fatted calf here and kill it,
and let us eat and be merry;
for this my son was dead and is alive again;
he was lost and is found.’
And they began to be merry.