Watching the families of the Charleston murder victims
forgive the perpetrator was amazing, incredible and inspiring. An enormous
amount of soul work must have been done in their church to enable forgiveness in the midst of such pain. Forgiveness in such
circumstances is hard work and requires extraordinary courage.
Thankfully, forgiveness is for the benefit of the forgiver,
not the offender. The offender still carries the burden of his guilt. But given time and healing, forgiveness relieves the forgiver of the burden of
grudge, however justified the grudge may be. Ultimately, it is forgiveness that
enables us to forget.
This painful episode reminds us how much has occured in our
nation’s history for which forgiveness has been needed and how much forgiving
has already occurred. The commitment to non-violence that characterized the
civil rights movement amounted to forgiveness in advance for the violence that
would be visited upon its participants. Enormous advance soul work was required. Thank goodness for the committed participation of strong spiritual leaders.
When God calls us to forgive, he calls us to freedom. The members
of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church have courageously chosen to
accept God’s freedom and to trust God with the fate of the perpetrator of this evil act.
We can learn from their example. We will pray for their healing. And we must never, ever forget their courage.
We can learn from their example. We will pray for their healing. And we must never, ever forget their courage.
Well stated. The grace and dignity of the Charleston families is humbling.
ReplyDeleteNice post. When I learned of all that occurred during that period I asked why? Well I had just come from a performance of Rogers & Hammerstein's South Pacific where there's a high drama tune often overlooked when one thinks of the tunes from that play. Usually u think "There is nothing like a Dame" or "Wash that Man out of my Hair". But "You Have to be Carefully Taught" seemed to answer my "why". It's a beautiful lyrical number and maybe u agree with these words:
ReplyDelete"You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught
Read more: South Pacific - Youve Got To Be Carefully Taught Lyrics | MetroLyrics You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught."