"Ahead"

He was sitting in a rockin’ chair,

He came to talk with me,

And I was glad to have him there,

Though nervous, don’t you see.

He twirled his old spur rowel,

And then he cleared his throat,

Loosened up his old wild rag,

And then slid off his coat.

I knew that he would take his time,

The way grandfathers do,

I also knew that he’d be fair,

His words were always true.

You know, son, as he began,

I’ve lived so many years,

We’ve had great times together,

And, yes, we’ve cried some tears.

And sometimes things were funny,

And I’ve laughed loud and long,

But sometimes sad and tragic,

When everything went wrong.

And this is one of those times,

My best horse we’d put down,

Because I rode him in harm’s way,

My heart was in the ground.

He knew that I knew better,

Than to try and rope that bull,

But I rose to the challenge,

And my cocky cup was full.

Turns out the unexpected,

Move that makes you pay,

Gored too far to help him,

And now Grand-dad would say,

I know the way you’re feelin’,

I’ve felt all the same way,

Things like this have happened,

And it never is okay.

But learning what you need to,

Then give yourself a break,

The hard thing that we go through,

Forgive your own mistake.

I was just a youngster cowboy,

When he said those words to me,

But I never did forget it,

When regret won’t leave me be.

He got up from that rockin’ chair,

And then he shook my hand,

Rode off on that mare of his,

She wore the M-C brand.

But branded on my heart and mind,

The words my Grand-dad said,

Forgive yourself and ride on, son,

And look to what’s ahead.

“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus…” (Phil. 3:13, NIV)

Forgetting the past is impossible, right? But the Bible is inspired and there it is. Perhaps what Paul is saying is that the past cannot control him anymore when he remembers it. There is no verse of scripture that specifically tells us to forgive ourselves, but it does say we should forgive everyone who hurts us and we should make peace with the past. It’s important, don’t you think? Some live in past memories that they consider the “good old days” and their yearning for yesterday causes them to miss the opportunity of today. Some live in negative memories of regret that are so powerful they paralyze them for doing anything productive now. Visit the past. Learn from it. But never live there. Today is God’s gift. Tomorrow is God’s promise.

Lord, help us forgive ourselves and move on, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Don Dane, dondane.com. Used by permission. Thanks, and God bless you.