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Topic: Beginnings (05/31/04)
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TITLE: Beginnings and ends By Mark Marinko 06/02/04 |
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“A new beginning or a different end,” regrets requiem. Futures first thoughts after failures last moment. The solemn cry of every soul that fell short of expectations or fought hard in a battle they could not win… “A new beginning or a different end.”
She sits in her office contemplating last nights conversation. She had spoken of what she did not know about whom she did not care for, to a giddy audience of her peers. Her hands half heartedly occupy with tasks that don’t require the mind. She knows that the slander has surfaced, the fingers are pointing and the damage is done…. “A new beginning or a different end,” she whispers.
“Two months,” he says to himself as he stares into a bottle that ironically bears his initials. Jim’s been off the alcohol for sixty days. Long enough to know that sober doesn’t spell security and it doesn’t mean employed. His thumb sits poised alongside the ribbed plastic cap, ready to perform his trademark twist. In an endless moment, he wonders how it is that all of his problems and all of his answers are at the bottom of the same bottle. Seven words punctuate his latest attempt at sobriety… “A new beginning or a different end.”
“Irreconcilable differences” is what the paper says, but he knows that’s not the real story. You see, it’s more a matter of some real baggage, some unreal expectations and a blatant disregard for time. He thinks about their first kiss, then he thinks about their last fight. “I know it’s not thee answer,” he says to himself, “but it’s an answer.” He signs his name, folds the paper, and then stares quietly at the wall. He doesn’t say a word but you can see it in his eyes… “if only… a new beginning or a different end.”
You’ve been there haven’t you? Truth is, we all have and if you‘re like me, you‘ve been there more times than you care to think about. And during those times, what we wouldn’t give or pay to simply start over again, to wipe the slate clean and have our hope for the future rekindled. Unfortunately “beginnings” and “ends” can’t be bought, bribed or sold. We simply happen upon them and are left to deal with the consequences; good or bad.
But what would you say to the proposition of endless beginnings and a guaranteed glorious end? That’s the beauty of Christianity you know? In Christ we are offered freedom from our past, strength for today and hope for the future. Every horrible mistake is only a prayer away from a new beginning. Every questionable future is shored up with the promise that He’ll complete the work that He started in you. That the reasons He’s left is not to forsake you, but to prepare a place for you and that He will come again. So the next time your faced with a horrible outcome or an uncertain end. Remember what you’ve been offered by the one who holds you, your time and your future in the palm of His hand…. “a new beginning and a guaranteed glorious end.”
In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you 1 Peter 1:3,4