Revisiting the old neighborhood

Remember your childhood house?  Mine was near Lackland Air Force Base.  Our little pink asbestos-shingled abode served as shelter for 4, and we played baseball in the front and ate hamburgers at our picnic table in the back.  I've driven by the old place several times since, and actually the notion of revisiting comes to mind because a friend recently revisited his high school neighborhood.  Beginning to miss some of his buddies, he headed toward his old stomping ground after work one night.  Along the way, he talked with the Lord and valued the time.  Then when he arrived, the message hit hard.  Misery set in.  He turned off the ignition, just sat in the car, and felt anger and sorrow refloat to the top.  Seeing the old school reminded him of former drug abuse.  Seeing his apartment brought back the days when his mom supplied alcohol and partied with his friends.  His visit became an hour flooded with heartache from life’s worst times.  Yet there was some good in all this.  As pain can grow humility, all the devastating memories and all the shame and regret served to deepen my friend's gratitude toward the Lord.  If still living in his old ways, he says he might be sitting in jail or maybe even dead, and now how earnestly he appreciates the Lord delivering him.  He was newly inspired to live humbly and take the Lord seriously and not waste his second chances.  No more self-righteousness.  And so my friend poses some questions for all of us, “Is there somewhere we need to revisit today?  Somewhere I need to go?  How about you?"