As we begin a new year, I am reminded of the poem by Louisa Fletcher Tarkington, titled "The Land of Beginning Again." She wrote in one stanza:I wish there were some wonderful place
Called the Land of Beginning Again,
Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches
And all our selfish grief
Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door,
And never be put on again.
Carl Bruin, a Christian poet, wrote an additional stanza to the poem:
I have found in the Book, that wonderful place,
Called the Land of Beginning Again,
Where the sins of the past are remembered no more
And the years, locust-eaten, the Lord doth restore.
All our filthy rags changed for a garment of grace,
And the soul is begotten again!
Oh, I've found, yes, I've found, that wonderful place
Called the Land of Beginning Again.
What a wonderful truth with which to begin a new year! God is a God of grace, and the beginning of a new year is a great opportunity to "forget what lies behind, and reach forward to what lies ahead" (Philippians 3:13).
