Encouragement

Back To Square One

by Maria Franco
06/30/16
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In life there are times when we find ourselves standing once again at the very same ground that we had walked upon decades ago.
To view the same surroundings, breathe in the same air that we had once inhaled, gently touch the leaves of trees still standing strong and walk down paths that still hold traces of our footsteps somewhere far beneath.
When we look back on the memories of the past years it fills us with an inexplicable feeling of great happiness and passionate longing. Being back to Square one becomes a delightful experience as we are happy to be on joyful ground in an encore with newer and newest moments being added into our lives.

There are also instances where we go around in circles and then find ourselves once more at the starting point having missed our sense of direction somewhere along the way as we now realise that this beginning point was and is the best time of our life.
At other times we are so awed by the presence of others and when their absence brings us back to square one, we can only take refuge in holding the moments of the other person's when they were with us.

We see around us people who agree first then disagree later and once again make up and reconcile. Their hearts always yearning to be back to square one in a band of peace and goodwill.
There is a lovely phrase which reads; "When you truly care for someone, their mistakes never change your feelings, because it is the mind that gets angry but the heart still cares."

After the death of our Lord, Peter and the other apostles went back to fishing. They decided to go back to square one as they felt the death of Jesus was the end. But this was not what the Lord had in plan for them. He had molded them to be fishers of men to bring his chosen people into the heavenly net.
He thus appears to them after the resurrection and commissions them to go out and preach the Gospel of Christ. It was a brand new start for the apostles.

Writers can go through a writers block for years and one fine day pick up the golden pen and start writing again.
For them being back to square one is highly positive and a sure growth.

There was once an ant who painstakingly carried a leaf from a far off place over hurdles of stones and bridges. When it reached the hole where it was residing it realised that the leaf was larger then the hole and it could not take it inside so the ant just left the leaf on the road side having wasted all efforts to carry it through. It was now back to square one having actually returned with nothing.
Similarly in life at times we do not weigh the end result and plan properly. We waste time and effort only to realise that in the end we are back to the first point beacuse we did not look far ahead and visualize any shortcomings.

In Luke 14:28, Jesus said that in constructing a  tower we have to first sit and think how to plan the cost and means of resources in order to complete the project. If we start building and halfway realise that we do not have the means to finish it, it will only be a crumbling dream.
Similarly, in Luke 14;31, Christ also said that if a king who is getting ready for battle does not scale the strength of the opponent's army but sets out without proper discernment taking ten thousand men with him, he will soon be overtaken and conquered by the enemy's army if it is twice in size with twenty thousand men.

On a final and good note, one fine day we too will be back to square one with our Creator who made us for himself and still further our bodies will rise up on the last day and be joined to our souls just as Christ too rose from his own death and ascended back to his Father in heaven to give us the promise of a glorious resurrection in eternity.

Maria Franco