Scripture paints pictures of many like me
Pilgrims on their way home, missing the way
Every once in a while, traveling still, seeking
To find the right way. All the time I meet them –
People like me who didn’t start out with much
To whom Your presence made all the difference;
Men and women like me whose everyday were
Like mine. Some had all it takes to make it
But missed You along the way. Some hadn’t much
But You and made it safely home at last.
Eyes on those pictures I wonder, “They could have
Done better,” Yet as I view my present, I understand
No matter the age and space, we are all the same:
Men and women who missed it, who will continue
To miss it because too soon, we forget, then we repeat.

Food For Thought: I recall at one stage of my life, I was often caught saying after every mistake, “I’ve learned my lesson.” But that was not my reality. I was saying that but events kept revealing that I really wasn’t learning otherwise there would be no repeats. That we wished we learned from every experience doesn’t imply that we actually learned the right lessons. The proof of our learning is reflected through our responses to subsequent events. Our actions and reactions, not mere utterances, demonstrate whether we have learned or not. Same goes with life: history is repeated because men did not learn and for as long as we haven’t, the repeat continues. The wisdom, derived from learning terminates the cycle of unpleasant events. It is cheaper to learn from observing others than from our experiences. We often judge others while we excuse and get away with the same error. Learning is for the teachable at heart. So long as we are not pausing to reevaluate the path we have been and how we got to where we are, it may be difficult to distill wisdom from past and without that, history will continue to be repeated.

Scripture: But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. James 1: 25.

Prayer: Dear Lord, when past calls with voice that appeals and sights that attract, help me to shun them and stay my focus on You: my hope of glory, amen.