Second Chances

By Mary Jo Bartolacci, Brown St. United Methodist Church
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This photo hangs above my desk.  I shot it while on a hike in north Georgia a few years ago. Ever since, I’ve been listening to the story the tree has been telling me about itself and its crooked pathway to the light.  I’ve imagined its quirky and difficult struggles. What brought about all those dead lower branches? That striking wrong-way turn? And what happened to cause it to reverse course and reach up toward the sun again? I’ve come to see that the story the tree tells is of second chances. It speaks of my own story of brokenness, grace, and forgiveness. God be with us as we both continue to grow. 

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