“I would relive my granddaughter’s birth!” my aunt said as she passed the mashed potatoes. The topic over Thanksgiving dinner this year was, “If you could relive any moment in your life, what would it be?”
The question came out of my uncle’s traditional Thanksgiving Day prayer. The prayer was a combination of famous prayers which unite with a theme of thanking God for the grace and love we have received throughout our lives.
It was probably because of the mixed ages at the table this year that the question evolved into “If you could relive a moment in your life, would you make different decisions?” We all agreed that “Hindsight is always 20/20″.
Hmmm, was there a moment in any of our lives that we wished we could relive? I believe, without much hesitation, I quickly blurted out that without a doubt there are several things I would do differently if I had them to do over. After all, wouldn’t most of say that if we could go back, there are jobs, relationships, things as menial as the opportunities we had that passed us by?
My mom has a great story about a guy who used to eat at her diner, Rod’s Diner in Ann Arbor. In conversation with my parents he talked about developing a “search engine” and continuing it in California. Later he asked my parents to become investors in his new company, but not knowing what a search engine was, they declined. Those guy was Larry Page, one of the creators of Google! If only my parents would have known the opportunity they could have invested in!
Yet, even as I made my loud statement at the table, I wondered if it was actually true “If I had a moment in my life to relive, would I really do anything much different?” After all, who I am today in many ways has been shaped from the good, bad and ugly choices I have made in my life. The role I play in my family, the work I do, is a direct result of the grace I have received from Christ. I show others guidance, grace because I know as the Apostle Paul knew -I too have it in me to be – the greatest of all sinners. I have the friendships I have because of all the places I have moved. And to say the least some of the greatest people I know were a direct result of some of some of the craziest choices I have made for my life.
Do you ever read the Bible and wonder if any of the characters –if they had it to do over–would make different decisions? For example, when Mary chose to wash Jesus’ feet and Martha decided to stay in the kitchen. Do think in hindsight, Martha would have stayed in the living room?
“Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:38-42).
Or do you ever wonder if Jesus knew in hindsight that only one of the ten Lepers he healed would turn and say thank you, would he still have chosen to heal the other nine?
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? (Luke 17:12-17)
We would all like to think that if Judas had it all to do over, he would not have traded those coins for Jesus’ arrest! Yet without the sin of Judas there would be no road to the cross and without the cross Jesus would not have fulfilled his calling — that the son of man must die so that all may live.
Jesus used words like “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me” (Luke 22:42) and “father why have you forsaken me” (Matt 22:45) which show us that Jesus was able to question the choices he was making.
This week I commend to you a couple of questions as you end the celebration of your Thanksgiving. First, when you are stopping to consider your life and the moments you would relive or change, also consider the roads your choices have led you on, the people, opportunities the good, bad and ugly choices you have made that have shaped your life. Maybe our role as we look forward, back or even at the day at hand, is simply to invite God’s love into the journey.
Bio: Chris Craig received his Master’s in Social Work from Tulane University and his Master’s in Pastoral Care & Counseling from Garrett Seminary. Chris guest preaches, leads spirituality classes, and works in social services in Lakeland. Chris is not ordained in any church, and his columns do not speak for any churches or organizations where he might be affiliated.
Cliff Wheeler
3 months ago
Chris, I would choose to not go the “what if” route. When I do look back on some of the more milestone events in my life, I frequently can clearly see what God was leading me to and teaching me in the process. Other events , I trust are still being worked out to His glory, though I can’t yet see , nor may ever see ,the eventual outcome. Of one thing I am certain, God has certainly used some of my stupid and sinful choices in positive ways that I could not have imagined at the time I was sitting there in regret and wondering about the outcome. I certainly don’t want to get into “predestination” theology, but I do believe God is in charge and knows our choices and has a plan for each of us. Consequently,if our faith is in the Lord, in all things we should be joyful–even when it ain’t fun anymore! After all, if you think about it, when we take on the question of “what if I had done it differently or done this instead of that?”, isn’t our motivation really self centered, aimed at our perception of what would have been the better outcome for ourselves? I prefer to think that God looked down in love at me and said, “OK, bad choice! Now watch what I can do with that!”