Life.
Both good and bad.
But there are moments when I realize that slowly, almost imperceptibly,
it’s spinning out of my grasp.
Mistakes. Wrongs. Hurts.
Life.
Both good and bad.
But what if I could start over, beginning now, at this time and this place?
Truly start over?
New hope. Rebirth.
What if that idea isn’t just the premise of a romantic comedy or the fantasy of a science fiction novel? What if that idea is not some abstract religious platitude I’ve heard or inherited, but a real possibility?
In Rob Bell’s excellent book Velvet Elvis, he writes that we can each choose to “reclaim my innocence”.Start over.Be born again.
It turns out the term and the concept comes from Jesus. The biblical book of John records a conversation he has with Nicodemus, a deeply religious man whose life was nevertheless empty. Jesus spoke to him of being “born again” and, though Nicodemus didn’t immediately understand, the evidence is that he discovered a new meaning worth dying for. He was able to rebirth. Start over.
What if we could be born again? Jesus’ words are for us, too. That makes them deeply meaningful, blatantly non-religious, and wonderfully possible.
