I’m feeling opinionated… so prepare to bear the brunt of my ruminations.
They used to come to me by e-mail, but things tend to move from one form of annoying to another without changing their nature (like this blog). Of course, I speak of Myspace bulletin surveys. Despite my best efforts, I read some of them. I see a lot of this question, in one form or another, “If you had it to do over again, would you (insert X)?”
Frequently, the reply is, in one form or another, “No, I have no regrets. If I hadn’t made the choices I did, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”
Excuse my language, but Poppycock.
There. I’ve said it.
While I respect many of the people who feel this way, I disagree with their line of thought on this subject.
We are so terribly concerned that life doesn’t catch us by surprise. More importantly, we desperately don’t want look like fools. Good luck with that, mortal.
When the “no regrets” band wagon was first loaded, I think it made sense. It was an encouragement. “Follow your dreams, brother. Don’t let fear keep you from that something great which you would do.” In other words, live your life in such a way that you will have no regrets.
It means something else now, doesn’t it? Now, it entails making yet another offering to the Great (Everyone Needs to Know How Cool and Self-Confident) I Am. And what, exactly, is bound upon the altar? Repentance and humility, for starters. I’ve made a lot of bad choices. I can think of a few I’d gladly take back, given the chance. To my understanding, that is part of repentance. It doesn’t mean I have to dwell on the past and live in guilt — that ignores forgiveness. What it does mean is realizing that what I’ve done is wrong. If I wouldn’t change it, given the chance, then I can’t have changed much. I suspect on that point, many of you will disagree; and you are entitled.
Let me leave you with this question, though. What is the reason for this dedication to our past? Are we so pleased with ourselves now that we’re glad we didn’t always take God’s path? Maybe we are. I really believe that if I had taken God’s path, I’d be in a much better position than I am now. When I don’t recognize that fact, I let my arrogance fly in the face of His wisdom and His will.
Here is one of my favorite sections of scripture, Deuteronomy 30:15-19:
See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Apparently, we can look back on our lives and say to God, “God, thanks for bringing me so far. I’m pretty happy with where we are now. Honestly, aren’t You glad we didn’t do it Your way? I mean, we wouldn’t be here today if we had!”
I’m sure God understands. After all, we know best.
Right?
Tags: culture, spirituality