thoughts on the news of the day: forgiveness

hmmm…..

            Remember Gabriel Giffords?  She was shot a little over a month ago at a rally in Arizona.  After the initial media frenzy, we didn’t hear much about her recovery.  But now we are getting reports that she is doing well.  She is relearning her speech, she is able to sing simple songs like “Twinkle, twinkle little star” and she can now walk with the aid of a cart.  Her physical condition seems to be steadily improving.  But I wonder about her spiritual condition.  That will need to heal also if she is to make a full recovery.

             Learning to forgive someone who has dramatically harmed you is a nearly impossible task. I have found that one of the ways we can forgive is by praying for the one who has injured you.  It is difficult, if not impossible to begin to pray for someone who has made your life a mess.  But it works. 

            In my own life, I have recently come upon a situation where someone has hurt me and my hunch is that they have no idea what they have done.  My inclination is to be angry and to want to fight back.  And sometimes that is useful and necessary to do.  But in this case, it won’t give me peace.  So I prayed for him.  And that made all the difference.  Asking God to be with him, and to guide and direct his life helped me to realize that although he has caused me harm, he is in a pretty big mess himself.  I found compassion for him and I feel better.

            Did it change him or the circumstance?  Probably not.  But it changed me.  I am calmer, stronger, braver and at peace.  Pray for your enemies.  It won’t fix the situation, but it will fix you.

            hmmm…..