CHAPLAIN’S CORNER
Chaplain Dennis Smith
Exchanging Old Mistakes
for New Beginnings
B
ob Brenly, once a catcher for the San
Francisco Giants, has the dubious
distinction of committing four errors in
one inning.
Three of the errors were on ground
balls with two of them on the same play.
Then he hit a home run in the fifth inning.
In the seventh inning he hit a two-out,
two-run single to tie the game. Finally in
the bottom of the ninth inning he hit a
walk-off home run to win the game. After
setting a major league record for the most
errors in one inning he managed to win
the game for his team.
Most of the time when we make mis-
takes things don’t turn out as well. They
certainly didn’t for Israel.
In his book of Lamentations, the
prophet Jeremiah writes in the midst
of national upheaval and despair. Jeru-
salem was under siege, surrounded by
tens of thousands of soldiers. Because
of the blockade, food and water were
scarce, leading the people to commit
desperate acts in order to survive. No
wonder the book is called Lamentations.
Despite the bleak surroundings Jer-
emiah comments in chapter three, “Be-
cause of the Lord’s great love we are not
consumed, for his compassions never
fail. They are new every morning; great
is your faithfulness.”
Despite the discomforts of life and
the fears that plague us, we can know
the same sort of trust. We can know that
God is with us no matter what happens,
even when we make repeated mistakes.
If Jeremiah could hold onto his faith in
God in the midst of what was happening
in Jerusalem, surely you and I can trust
God to keep us going in our lives. So
no matter what is happening today be
assured that