Do you remember a time—maybe when you were a little kid, maybe just recently—when you did something awful?  It most likely disappointed the people around you.  Or perhaps the disappointment you felt in yourself nearly suffocated you…with shame, anger, and regret.  Everyone has had moments when they say (wholeheartedly), “If I could have anything in the world it would be a chance to make up for the mistake I made.”  Everyone has made mistakes that they wish they could take back.  What happens in a world where we make mistakes but cannot take them back?  Although no one can erase their mistakes from history, second chances (even third, forth, and fifth chances)—or also known as grace—gives us all those do-overs we wish for.

Sometimes I wish that there was a button always hovering around me.  When pushed, this button would erase the mistake I just made from all existence and let me have a clean start.  Unfortunately, there are no magical buttons, but I think that if there were the world would be worse off.  Now hold up! is what I can hear you saying.  You’d better give good back-up to that reasoning, because I want one of those magical buttons. But stop for a minute and think about it.  Try to remember one of the most valuable lessons you learned in your life.  I know that growing up I learned pretty fast what not to do based on the mistakes I made.  However, with age comes wisdom (usually) and I see now the foolishness of some of the things I did.  Yeah, I wish I could erase some of my mistakes from my past.  But then would I be the person I was today?  Having to live with the guilt and pain of your mistakes makes you into the person you are.

And then enters the idea of grace. Or more often the word used is forgiveness. We have all been told to “forgive and forget”.  Often times, someone does something that hurts or disappoints us and for a while, all we want to do is smack them upside the head.  In many instances it is nearly impossible to forgive the person.  But when we do we are giving them that second chance—a do-over—that we all wish for.  I believe that humans should support second chances.  We need to endorse them.  Because without second chances we would all be estranged from the people we love.  Think about every time you have hurt people around you.  Sometimes the wounds don’t heal and the relationship is severed.  As individuals who crave companionship we realize that we must forgive in order to keep the ones we love.

Not only do I believe that humans should administer second chances to the people around us but I also know that not just humans are the ones who give second chances.  Perhaps you have had a near-death experience and now believe your life to be a “second chance”.  Maybe you have made a mistake but no one found out about it and you were given a second chance to make things right in your heart.  Remember every time you have messed up and yet you are still living and learning.  You get second, third, forth…probably thousands of chances if not millions in a life time to grow!  As sinful people, every moment we are breathing is our “second chance” to get our lives right.

Obviously some people do not get these million chances to get it right.  Sadly enough, many people do not even use their second chances to change for the better.  And that is where justice comes in.  Against life-threatening, heart breaking, criminal mistakes there are punishments and often times, people who continue to live destructive lives must be “punished”.  For some people, there is a limit to how many mistakes they can make before they have no more chances.  Ted Bundy, for example, received a just punishment for the continued harm of women across America.  For people who continue in their mistaken ways punishment must come, especially to protect those around them.  On a less extreme level, everyday people who abuse their friends, spouses, and others will eventually be stood up to.  In the end, we will all come face to face with our transgressions.  Until that time, though, we are given many chances to overcome our pasts and start on clean slates.

I cannot be thankful enough towards my family for their forgiveness over the years of my faults.  When I think of some of the hurt I must have caused them and yet they continue to love me I am amazed.  Every morning is like our “second chance”.  If we seize the opportunity to start over and make things right in our lives, no matter what the cost, I believe that we could live in a world working towards selfless love and peace.