THROUGH UNTRUE

To begin again after a dismal failure or disappointment is extremely difficult. Many politicians are good at this, though. They have mastered the art of reinventing themselves after their fall from grace. The late Ronald Reagan once said jokingly: “Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed, there are many rewards. If you disgrace yourself, you can always write a book.”
Some disgraced politicians do not only write books. Many of them who were publicly shamed for having plundered government coffers managed to stage a comeback. One TV journalist compares them to Jason, the main character in the horror movie “Friday the 13th.” This film has had many sequels because Jason cannot be killed. Why? Because Jason is already dead; he is a zombie. Regardless of how many times he is regenerated and reinvented, he remains the same as before: dead and evil.
There are, of course, many people who, after messing up their lives with wrong choices and decisions, rose from the depths of their misery and struggled to begin again. In a very real sense, they underwent a radical change, a “resurrection” experience which allowed them to say: “I am never the same again.” Their stories inspire us to find redemption through a deep faith in God who brings new life out of even the darkest situations.
One famous singer-actress was once hooked on drugs. She wrote: “Drug addiction is like a love affair, but as a lover, drugs can be cold and cruel, and hardly faithful.” This dawned on her when, after greedily sniffing the cocaine laid out on a sliver of a mirror, she saw her own reflection. She was terrified. She was staring at a girl who was wasting her life, looking for happiness in the wrong places.
Desperation engulfed her mind which was already muddled by years of drug use. She took a knife and thought of committing suicide. But as the knife moved closer to her wrist, a thought took shape in her mind. She confided to a reporter: “I felt God’s heart breaking at the touch of cold steel on my soft young wrist. I felt like I was betraying Him. I put the blade back in the medicine cabinet.” At that darkest moment, she decided to make a brand new beginning in her life.
At the age of 15, Peter was introduced to a life of crime by his own father. He was imprisoned several times and treated in a mental hospital. One day, he passed by the church that he and his late mother frequented when he was a little boy. For some unknown reason, he felt the urge to enter and pray.  He remembered what his mother had told him: “Whoever God sets free, is free indeed.” He suddenly felt the heavy burden of guilt and sin that he had carried for years. He went to a priest and sought counseling. On seeing him, the priest asked: “Do you want to confess?” He replied: “No. I don't believe in that.” The priest calmly said: “What have you got to lose if you try now?”
For the first time in his life, he knelt down and said tearfully: “Please help me to start my life anew. I have been going downhill for so long, I hope that God’s forgiveness can undo the bad things I have done.” The priest said: “My dear child, God’s forgiveness cannot change your past. But it has the power to enlarge your future.”
Many a time, we find ourselves in the dumps. Rather than live in denial, let us face up to our mistakes and move forward in faith and hope. Christ’s resurrection reminds us that it is never too late to start; and never too early to begin.