Читать книгу A Trilogy of Healing - Glenn Goree - Страница 8

Imagine a world without forgiveness. There would be wars, famine, hunger, pestilence, murder, rape, and many other perils. Oh, wait a minute, we have those problems now and forgiveness has been a part of our world since its beginning. Now think what our world would be like if the divine blessing of forgiveness didn’t exist at all.

Forgiveness is a difficult virtue to practice much less fulfill when feelings have been bruised. And yet, when forgiveness is offered and accepted it is the most powerful medicine for the soul. Friendships are reborn, marriages are healed, co-workers grow more in tandem in their relationships, and small children learn to play well together by sharing their sandbox equally and fairly.

You may think the idea of two children learning to play nicely together in a sandbox is inconsequential to forgiveness. But practicing this virtue, or refusing to, forms the core of the adult heart. The only difference between the lesson on forgiveness a child and an adult can either learn or fail to learn is found in the size of their sandbox. Are not corporate wars fought over the size of respective company sandboxes? And how about military wars? Were not The Great War and World War II fought over the size of sandboxes? In both the corporate wars and world wars, the opponents were/are jealous not only of the size of the sandboxes but what was/is in them as well. And usually adults who can’t play nicely with each other didn’t play well in a sandbox as a child either.

What, then, do I mean when I say forgiveness unauthorized? Other than to catch a reader’s attention, this snappy title and the titles of the following poems have a deeper, spiritual single-mindedness.

God’s forgiveness is intended for all people everywhere. What if Jesus had said while hanging on the cross, “Father because these people are murdering me I don’t want them to be forgiven.”

No, his words were, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

Jesus chose to forgive his foes even though they were in the very act of murdering him. They had witnessed the Roman soldiers fillet his back with whips until his flesh had been torn from his body exposing his ribs. They didn’t cringe as iron nails were driven into his hands and feet. And in a final insult to injury, they stood at the foot of his cross and watched his life blood pour down his body.

So how could Jesus pray to his Father to grant these hypocrites forgiveness? Was not their goal to murder Jesus? Jesus asked for them to be forgiven even though he knew they chose not to understand. Understand what? They chose not to understand the bigger picture. They weren’t murdering a mere man; they were murdering the Son of God.

Their focus of concern was on this life and not the next. They chose not to acknowledge he was the Son of God by turning a blind eye to his miracles and a deaf ear to his teachings. And yet, regardless of their lack of spiritual acuity he still did not want to punish them.

With Christ’s example on the cross, how can any of us refuse to receive or offer forgiveness? Not one human has suffered the gravity of Christ’s injustice. Through his example, we should be inspired to offer and receive forgiveness no matter what the circumstance. Is this practice of humility difficult? Do any of us think it was easy for Jesus to ask God to forgive the people who were murdering him? No, it wasn’t easy because although his divine mission was to die, his human side dreaded making the ultimate sacrifice. In the end, his divinity took precedence over his humanity, an act for which we should be eternally grateful.

Hence, what does this background to Christ’s forgiveness have to do with the title of the first section of poems? Christians live in a secular world that does not believe in forgiveness. It believes in payback, or in saying, “I forgive”, but the words are empty, a ruse. Some people embrace forgiveness for a time, but later stab the forgiven in the back. The world takes a variety of false actions that avoid the true meaning of forgiveness.

This spiritual disrespect for forgiveness can only lead to the conclusion that forgiveness in the secular world is not authorized, and—sad to say—sometimes in the Christian world as well. Extend a hand in forgiveness but don’t mean it. Agree in love but live in resentment. Hold a grudge, develop bitterness, become cynical, and be acerbic.