Skip to main content

Could You Forgive?

Nelson Mandela. My guess is that you've heard of him. How about Immaculee Ilibagiza? Probably not, but then again, maybe you have. She survived the Rwandan genocide of 1994. I won't tell her story here, you can read it in her books, Left to Tell and Led by Faith.

Invictus, the movie that depicts Nelson Mandela's successful attempt to unite South Africa, just happened to be the next movie in our Netflix queue and I just happened to pick up Led by Faith at the library a couple of days before Invictus showed up in our mailbox.

These stories blow my mind. I honestly can't comprehend the magnitude of pain in each story. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for twenty-six years because he fought for the oppressed. Immaculee Ilibagiza lived in a bathroom, unable to move or speak for ninety-one days while she listened to the screams of her friends, neighbors, and family as they were brutally raped and murdered. Yet both Mr. Mandela and Ms. Ilibagiza speak of forgiveness - not of revenge or retribution, not of anger, hatred, or bitterness.

"Love your enemy." When it gets down to it, I'm pretty sure most of us would agree that it's one of those easy-to-talk-about-but-not-so-easy-to-do things. In truth, I have trouble loving the person who cuts me off when I'm late for work. And if you think you're fairly easy-going and forgiving, just wait until someone hurts one of your children. I guarantee you, it's not pretty. I can't stop thinking about these stories - how in the world could I ever forgive someone who brutally, viciously, attacked and murdered not just one person I love but pretty much everyone I love? Or how could I even take the first step towards forgiving someone who took twenty-six years of my life away from me? Who separated me from my family for twenty-six years? Who took twenty-six years of my freedom? I don't think I . . . no, I know I couldn't do it.

. . . but God who is rich in mercy . . .

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Believing the Lies

My husband and I recently watched The Help - a story about a group of African American women who worked as maids in Jackson, Mississippi in the '60s. One of the protagonists works for a woman "who got no b'ness havin' babies." This woman, this family maid and nanny, tells her little two year old ward regularly, "You is pretty. You is smart. You is impor'ant." How difficult it is for us to believe that about ourselves - really, to believe anything good about ourselves. I always try to be my raw self when I write a blog post. Today is no exception. So I confess that I've been drowning in a storm of lies lately. My head knows they're lies, and I could easily tell anyone else in the same place that they're lies, but I haven't been able to get a grip. There have been so many of them coming at me at once. It seems that I just break the surface, gulp some fresh air of truth then get pulled back under. One thing I know: the enemy of our ...
7 comments
Read more

Tricia's Return (my first ICL assignment for 13-17 year olds)

I stormed down the hall and slammed the door. I’d had enough! Dumping my books out of my backpack, I began shoving in clothes – anything I could grab. I dug through the junk on the floor of my closet and found my stash – my life’s savings. I shoved it on top of my clothes. In the midst of this frenzy, I heard a soft knock on my door. "Tricia?" It was my mom. “What now?” I couldn’t keep the anger out of my voice. She was just going to launch into another tirade. Her list of my shortcomings was endless, and I didn’t want to hear them anymore. I didn’t open the door; I climbed out my window, backpack in tow, grabbed my bike and took off for the bus station. Jeremy didn’t know I was coming. He’d be so surprised. I couldn’t wait to see him! We’ve been together for a year; but since his family moved to St. Louis four months ago, we haven’t seen each other. We haven’t even been able to talk much He'd made the varsity soccer team; and with all the games and practices, he hadn’t h...
2 comments
Read more

Resting...Resting?

A few weeks ago, my husband and I had dinner with our daughter-in-law and two of our grand children. My daughter-in-law lost her job a couple of months ago. I wanted an update on current job prospects or plans, so I asked, "What are you doing these days?" Her answer was simple and yet incredibly profound.              Resting. (Is that even a word in the American lexicon?) I'm proud of her, and of them, for making the decision that it's time for her to rest. She's been in hyper-drive for all the years I've known her (over 16).  That word has haunted me since she spoke it. Resting. What would happen if I...if you...gave it a try?  In Psalm 23: 6a, David says Surely goodness and mercy will follow me. In K.J. Ramsey's The Lord is My   Courage (page 240), she tells us that our English word, "follow," doesn't convey the power behind the original Hebrew word that David used (radaph). She tells us that radaph means "to pursue, chase, and pers...
1 comment
Read more