Spirituality is...A Do-Over

"With God, every moment is the moment of beginning again."
Catherine Doherty

     One of the most awesome and powerful elements of childhood is the "Do-Over".  You remember the "Do-Over" don't you?  It usually happened when someone new was playing a game and violated a rule without knowing it, or there was so much confusion or contesting about a play in a game that the simplest, best method for solving the crisis was simply to pretend the event never happened and start again.  Do-Over's are metaphysical miracles. They are part time-travel (going back as if something never happened), part opportunity (a baseball strike before a do-over could become a hit the second time around), and all grace.

     As we grow up, we seem to use Do-Overs less and less, and we seem to need them more and more. A chance to go back, a chance to re-do, and a chance to change the outcome of our actions or in-actions would change the game of our lives and the world entire. 

     In the bible, there is a story of a woman accused of adultery.  The bible describes the scene this way:

“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.  Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”   John 8:3-11

We may be tempted to think of that scenario as her "Do-Over".  But we would be wrong.  It isn't a Do-Over for her --- no one who gets that close to death can pretend it didn't happen.  It's a Do-Over for the crowd - for us.  They have judged, accused and sentenced her - they have treated her badly, and looked upon her with neither mercy, nor wisdom. Jesus stops this event before it gets any worse, and by pointing out their own sin gives them a chance to walk away, think about it, and hopefully do better the next time around.

Spirituality - the ability to look internally and give mercy externally is a constant invitation to Do-Over. It is the comfort that reminds us it is never too late to begin again.

Imagine Jesus, compassionate and protective, standing with the woman caught in the act of adultery, challenging the crowd to examine their souls. It is a moment of tense silence as the stones in their hands grow heavy with the weight of their own sins. What if, suddenly, one person unable to see his sin (or unwilling to admit it) throws a rock at the woman? It strikes her, and bounces to the ground. What would happen? You know. So do I. She would die under a barrage of stones as the flood gates of self righteousness open.

But what then? How could there possibly be a Do-Over then?  The answer lies with the stones.

What would happen to the stones? Would they lay on the ground jagged and stained? Would someone collect them and show them in a museum? Would someone in her family retrieve them, sharpen them and throw them back at members of the crowd? And perhaps the most intriguing question of all - what would Jesus, the Savior, do with those stones?

I believe Jesus would pick up the stones one by one and with his tears and his own garment clean the blood from their surface and use them to build a bridge or a well or a church. I believe Jesus would reclaim those stones in the name of the Holy God who made them and use them for hope's purpose. I believe Jesus would make a lesson and a life change of those stones.  I believe he would make those stones a monument to the power of beginning again.

We live in a world where sinners throw stones every day. We hurl insults, divide with prejudice, and judge one another without hardly any thought to the stones we are throwing or the sin we deny. Jesus is pretty clear. If you have sin in your life, then you must seek forgiveness, reconcile with God and change your ways. And until you do that wonder of wonders -- leave the stones on the ground.  Only a person without sin may throw a stone (and, really, why would that person want to?).

Jesus is still in front of us - writing in the sand, reminding us to search our hearts, to build some bridges, and to never forget the power of the Do-Over.