In The Land of Beginning Again

One of my all-time favorite movies is the Christmas classic, "The Bells of St. Mary's" starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman.  Father O'Malley arrives at St. Mary's School as the new principal and finds there are more items on his plate than he could ever have imagined.

One of the sub-plots of the film deals with a young girl, Patsy, whose mother leaves her at the school to board because she's trying to sort out her life.  Patsy doesn't quite fit in, and she's not always the quickest kid in the class, so her self-esteem plummets.

In the pivotal scene in her story, Patsy sits down with Father O'Malley for a chat, and as always he croons her a tune to straighten out her muddled mind and emotions.  This song is by Grant Clarke:

"There's a land of beginning again where skies are always blue

Though we've made mistakes, that's true

Let's forget the past and start life anew

Though we wander by a river of tears.

Where sunshine won't come through

Let's find that paradise where sorrow can't live

And learn the teachings of forget and forgive

In the land of beginning again, where broken dreams come true."

This always makes me cry, and yet I have never fully explored the lyrics until today.  Now I know why I cry.

I've made my share of mistakes, and don't think I'm alone in wanting to move on and make things better.  Memories can be painful if dredged up in the wrong way, but they can be blessings beyond belief if we act on those mistakes to change ourselves.

Each and every morning that we wake to a new day is an open invitation to the Land of Beginning Again.  Just as God the Father loved us so much as to give His only Son to die for the redemption of our sins, we owe it to ourselves to love our special person whom we are to move on and put the sins of the past behind us, growing and learning.

It's not always easy; baggage comes heavily weighted down and there are parts of our past that readily become millstones around our necks, but we can do it through God's grace and our personal commitment.  

Think of an exercise class instructor:  "Reach, reach!" they call out as participants work to feel the burn.  We've got to get it into our own heads to reach and keep reaching when it seems like things are just too difficult.  It's not necessarily a physical process, either, but more of an emotional and mental one, which makes it all that much  harder.  If we give up; if we quit, we are nothing more than a lump on the floor to be swept away into the trash bin.

I am not a lump, at least not in that sense.  I may wallow in the squalor of my own defeatist emotions for a while, but I have to hang on because I am a survivor.  I am a survivor by the grace of Almighty God, as it appears He has a special plan for my life.  Sometimes I just wish I knew how much more garbage picking I was going to endure before I get there!

So remember that little song from a movie dating back to World War II, when everyday survival was often a dream in The Land of Beginning Again.  More than half a century later, it's still calling all who listen to the knowledge that there are better days ahead, no matter what form they take.