Monday, October 10, 2011

Regret

A friend wrote a short post on regret.  This was my response:
I know this going to surprise you, but I only half agree. Regret as a verb is impossible to live without outside the parameters you set, but I don’t think that’s how most people mean it. I that context I believe most use regret as a noun. That definition is:
1. A sense of loss and longing for something gone.
2. A feeling of disappointment or distress about something that one wishes could be different.
I think by that definition it is possible, if not improbable, to come to the end of your life and have no regrets. It is my goal to live my life in such a way that on my last night on earth I know that I have not been a slave to fear, that I loved and risked and dreamed and jumped. I’m a jerk, so I’m going to spend a lot of time being sorry for things I do and say, but I’m not going to live in that guilt. I’m going to have sex with my wife and play with my kids and smoke cigars and drink whiskey with my friends. I’m going to pray and play and fly. I intend to come to the end of this knowing that I lived the best l could. I’m going to know I failed and I’m going to rest in the unending grace of Jesus.

I guess its only fair to tell you that my response finds it origins in Noah & The Whale's album Last Night on Earth.  I love it, it been the soundtrack of my life lately.  This is going to get quote intensive, but hang in there because they are all awesome.  This is a selection from the first 3 songs on that record.

The night outside is five below
His heart is pumping blood
On his lips a perfect smile
His eyes begin to flood

The night outside is five below
The moon is in the sky
His heart is full of perfect joy
He whispers his goodbye

Because tonight's the kind of night
Where everything could change
-Tonight's The Kind of Night-

He took apart his own life, left it on the shelf
Sick of being someone he did not admire
Took apart his old things, set them all on fire

He's gonna change, gonna change his ways
And it feels like his life can start
And it feels like heaven
-Life is Life-

On my last night on Earth I'll look to the sky
Breath in the air and blink in the light
On my last nigh on Earth, I'll pay a high price
To have no regrets and be done with my life
-L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N-

I'm don't know what the writer of these words believes, but they sound like gospel to me.  They are about second chances and fresh starts.  They are about dreams and courage and opportunity.  There is hope here, where does that come from if not from Jesus.  We serve a God that loves -  that is in the business of restoration and rescue.  If we don't believe in fresh starts and second chances then we've missed it.  Jesus loves without limit and forgives recklessly and completely.  He is present and he his powerful.  He is compassion and hope and promise.  He removes guilt and shame and regret.  He is good and holy and he loves you.  Tonight's the kind of night where everything could change.