Okay, so I have had an issue stirring around in me since the last new Grey’s episode. First of all, what the writer strike?! We have missed how many new episodes? This is why I should have just stuck to watching dvd’s. Figure it out people, distribute the money justly, let’s all get along…
But that’s neither here nor there. My issue is with something Callie said, while talking to George’s mom. Now, in general, I am a big Callie fan. I would even think of naming a daughter her name (though I think that could be cheesy, considering the state I grew up in). I think she’s fun, smart, has little (compared to Meredith, gah!) baggage, and George was an idiot to cheat on her, and not try to work things out. However, this is not a blog about my disdain for infidelity…
What she said, in a really sad voice, was, “I used to believe in God and marriage and heaven and hell.” Then George’s mom asked, “now what do you believe in?” And she said, “I believe in love, and second chances.” What makes me sad is that there was no equation of the two, they were antitheses if you will. I USED to believe this, NOW I believe this.
If I know anything about God to be true, it is that God is the inventor, the very embodiment, of love and second chances. The whole Old Testament reiterates this theme again and again, Israel as an unfaithful bride, God as the ever-merciful husband; or Israel as the wayward child, God as the longing parent. The New Testament repeats this theme in parables like the Prodigal Son. Even on the cross, the thief says to Jesus, “remember me” and Jesus says, “you bet.” (my paraphrase) There is NEVER a time where God’s heart is not for people to be reconciled to God. Reconciliation of people (to themselves, to others and to God) is a meta-narrative, if you will, throughout Scripture and history. God wants us to be whole people, and God knows how many second chances that takes! I can’t begin to count the ‘second chances’ I’ve been given.
What makes me sad is when people experience or see suffering and think that if there is suffering, there can’t be a loving God. Or when people do something they deeply regret, yet don’t allow their stories to have a new chapter written. When they resign themselves to thinking, ‘this habit, this behavior, this decision’ is just part of me. And they don’t allow for newness in their lives. We all make mistakes, no one is perfect, everyone needs second chances and love, to come out of dark places.
God gives us those things. Do we receive them? Truly? Do we give each other love and second chances? Even when we’ve been wounded? It is hard work. But worth it. And as God’s hands and feet on this earth, that is our call, to be ambassadors of love and second chances.
Maybe we’ll meet a Callie some day? Truth is, we probably already know one.
These are my random thoughts when watching a tv show…
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