Forgiveness. Sometimes that's just a word to me. An unattainable desire. Sometimes I only know forgiveness when I see how badly you need to do it.
We saw it walking, talking, crying this past week in the broken hearts of the relatives of the murdered at Mother Emanuel in Charleston, SC.
I was reminded of my beloved Sandy whose daughter was murdered, and, upon being told the awful news, he was able to tell God that this would not change his love for God, that he forgave the murderer.
He said he was able to do that because he had made a decision sometime back to be a forgiving person...to be, not to become which just keeps the want to out in front of us. And he made that decision some twenty years ago when he saw a woman on television whose son had just been murdered in a street fight. A TV newsman thrust a microphone in her face and asked her what she thought of the murderer. She answered, "I've already forgiven him."
Sandy said he knew he could not do that, and that's when he made his decision. There it is...that's what opens us up to God's perfect work. Our decision. We decide to do, to be, different than we are, and we gut-bucket know, on our own, we are incapable of making that change.
That's our invitation to God to intervene in our lives on our behalf. Our only job from that point on is to hold to our decision...then get out of the way for change is a'coming.
Thank you.
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