How forgiveness begins ...

A prayer from Leaving Ruin:

Dear God,

Somewhere, a man hits a woman, and a woman dies, and the man’s life is severed, and a child is dropped from a killing height, and papers are signed, death certificates and warrants, and sin rolls through the earth like a wave of hell, and that anyone smiles is a miracle of humility and grace that only you can author.

Lord, how forgiveness begins is absurd, and hidden, and a mystery that I run toward, and from, and you are that mystery, and I stand dumb, mute, astonished, like a brick cut in half, chiseled into a beginning shape by the rough hand of time, and discipline, and love.

Oh, Lord, leave me, for if I see your face, or its shadow, or even if I sit with your word in my lap, I die, for I am sin, I am wrong, I am pride, I am lust, I am the seven deadly sins, and they are tattoos on my soul, full of spikes and piercings and skull’s bones, and how can you stand the hate hidden within? Is love this deep? Is blood, even the Christ’s, enough to clean, enough to slake even my deadly thirst, and praise is due the one who replies to this accusation, and says, yes, it is enough, my blood is enough, and my love is that deep, and there is nothing that can separate me from you, for you are mine, and are mine forever.

An unworthy servant, I bow.

Thanking Jesus, and in his name,

Amen

It is both frightening and comforting to look at ourselves in the mirror in light of the Cross. The older I get, the more acutely I experience the pain of my sin. When life was simpler and thinking was black-and-white for me, I thought my sin was minor and not hurtful. Over time, my thought-sins were exposed to be quite hurtful to myself and others. I wonder, at times, if the blood of Christ is enough. I fear, at times, that it is not. I hope, at all times, that it is. Logically and Theologically, I knew Jesus is enough.

Oh, but on the sad days. On the days that I don’t know if I have the trust and humility required to continue my contact with this Source of Life. Those days are the hard ones, when depression burns and the desire to run away overwhelms.

Yet, Christ is enough and His blood covers and heals and makes whole. He is to be praised and worshipped. He is enough, even when I am not enough. He hangs on to me even when I am not certain I have the courage to hang on to Him.

Romans 8:33-39
Who can accuse the people God has chosen? No one! God is the one that makes them right. Who can say that God’s people are guilty? No one! Christ Jesus died, but that is not all. He was also raised from death. And now he is at God’s right side, speaking to him for us. Can anything separate us from Christ’s love? Can trouble or problems or persecutions separate us from his love? If we have no food or clothes or face danger or even death will that separate us from his love? As the scriptures say “for you were in danger of death all the time. People think we are worth no more than sheep to be killed.” (Ps 44:22)

But, in all these troubles, we have complete victory through God, who has shown his love for us. Yes, I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love-not death, life, angels, or ruling spirits. I am sure that nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us or nothing below us - nothing in the whole created world - will ever be able to separate us from the love God has shown us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Grace and peace,

Shiann

You sang your song ...

Today’s devotional comes from Jason:

I was lost when you found me here
I was broken beyond repair.
Then you came along
And you sang your song over me
(Second verse of "Born Again)

There she was, thinking that everything was going to be okay. She had done this countless times before. This wasn't the kind of life she had always wanted, or the kind of life that she wanted to have ten years from now. Every day she had said, "I'll stop tomorrow. Just this once more." All of the men had promised her the same thing. They had all said she was so beautiful, that they loved her, that she was important to them. Just then, the door flew open, and there were so many people. She thought she recognized some of the men from past encounters, but couldn't be sure. It was so loud, so scary. They just kept shouting at her, cursing her, and condemning her. Where was the man? Why were they just focusing on her sin? This was a question she couldn't answer, accept to say, she wasn't as important as he was. They placed her there practically naked in the middle of the temple courts, and the shouting just got louder and louder. Everyone was yelling at her, accept him.

"Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?"

What would he say? Surely he would just yell and curse her like the others.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

The woman stood there covering as much of herself as she possibly could, because surely the first stone would come at any time now, but instead she just heard silence and the sound of feet walking away. As she looked up she noticed the older men walking away. Then she saw the younger ones following. All she could think of was the fact that she was not alone. She realized they all were in the same shape she was in. They had sin and deserved the same punishment that she did. She stood there in the silence just looking at the feet of the man who had just saved her life.

"Woman where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

No one sir, was all she could get out. She was free from their taunts. She was free to start over.

"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus said. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

Is it really that simple? She feels so much love coming from this man. She feels so much friendship, so much forgiveness. She knew this was all happening and she wanted that fresh start.

This was the story from John 8. Some of the thoughts were just an idea of what might have happened. This woman was lost and broken beyond repair. She finally found what she was looking for. She found a man who took her as she was and didn't want to leave her that way. He wanted to show her what true love and fellowship was. She learned it that day.

Can you imagine standing there in the presence of Jesus feeling that love, looking at those eyes of forgiveness? I am sure that she felt like standing at the feet of Jesus from that point on. Some of us can feel how she was feeling. We feel like we have fallen and broken. We feel like we have nowhere to turn. We feel like no one truly understands us. The pain from our sinful way of life is almost too heavy a burden to bear. Jesus stands there looking at us in our sin and wants to sing that forgiveness song over us as well.

Are you ready to experience what the woman did? Are you ready to make the life change? He challenges us to go and leave our life of sin. The woman walked away clean, loved, forgiven, and born again. Do you truly want all of that as well? Are you prepared to start over and leave what you "used to do" in the past, and just follow your Savior? Just like the woman, the choice is ours from that point.

I am glad that God still wants to work in my life and fix what I break.

God's blessings on all us broken and lost.

Jason

But there is forgiveness ...

Hear the word of the Lord:

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.

Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.

Only God can know the depths of our heart,
the burdens that crush us,
the fears that weaken us,
the mistakes that haunt us.

Only God can really hear this mess that is my message,
yet this holy listener knows my unholiness,
somehow knowing and forgiving and making
holy that which cannot be holy on its own.

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
than those who watch for the morning.

Does he make me wait because he is God
and I am not?
Does he make we wait so that I will understand
that he is not some sort of cosmic clean-up crew
just waiting for me to ring the bell?
Or does the waiting allow me time to contemplate
the ugliness, even horror, of what I have done?
Perhaps the waiting is for me to wake up to
the steadfast nature of his love, the ready power of
his saving arm, so different from my feeble efforts
and easily frustrated love for others.

O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

Surely, as difficult as it is for us to imagine,
our God loves us, forgives us, and delivers us
from our hammer-heads, our hard-hearts,
our razor tongues, our careless lips,
our wayward feet, our itching ears,
our insatiable stomachs, and our idle hands.
Through his Spirit, he transforms each one of these
troubled members into an instrument of praise.

Thank God that he is God, and that he loves us.

Blessings,

Ron

Psalm 130

The complexity of our humanity ...

We return this week to texts from the lectionary.
First, a prayer:

O God,
sustain us in the complexity of our humanity
as you sustained David--
playing the harp of youth,
throwing stones at giant problems,
loving our friends beyond wisdom,
dancing worship,
mourning children,
breaking our hearts in psalms, and
longing for warmth in our old bones. Amen.
- The Vanderbilt Lectionary Project

Hear the word of the Lord:

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgment.
Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.

You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
- Psalm 51:1-12

These words lead us to remember the words of John:

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins,
he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

My little children,
I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous;
and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,
and not for ours only
but also for the sins of the whole world.
- 1 John 1:8-2:2 – NRSV

This prayer, this psalm, and this scripture
Remind us of the complexity of our relationship with God.
That’s why I ask us to remember the prayer: “O God,
sustain us in the complexity of our humanity
as you sustained David” — it may serve us well
in our relationship with God this week.

Blessings,

Ron

Who could stand?

Hear the word of the Lord:

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications!

To be down in the depths is to be in over your head,
Buried in things to do, responsibilities to cover,
Jobs that get missed, commitments that fall short.
Anyone with any sense would cry out to God;
plead with him for help,
pray for his undivided attention.

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you may be revered.

If God really were a cosmic traffic cop,
there would be so many warrants for our arrest
that Dillinger would blush for looking the amateur.
If God were the kind of judge some of my brethren
expect to meet “on the day”, then I would advise
that they go stock up on barbecue sauce, because
they’ll be on the rotisserie soon enough. Yet,
Somehow God knows of our iniquities, and
We’re still standing as if nothing happened.

Something significant has happened, though;
God has been true to his real identity:
He cleans up messes that Hercules wouldn’t touch.
He is helper of the certifiably helpless.
He is the redeemer of those who have indebted
themselves into a slick pit of slavery.
He is the savior of lost people in lost causes,
and the praise of our lips, our lives,
is all that we can hope to offer him.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.

That is not to say that this Holy One, this Other,
will jump to our whim, our whistle, or our whining.
Sometimes he seems even to miss when we’re
really in need, really victims, really righteous.
We had best understand that we don’t understand
how he works, or when he works, at all.
We are not told to understand, though,
but to be found faithful, to be found waiting.
Sometimes the wait is long, as long as the night
watch in the hours before dawn: dark, dark,
and dark until a soul is dizzy with the dark.
Yet no matter how dark the dark, or deep the dark,
or long the dark, we must not lose hope.

O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
It is he who will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities.

His steadfast love will save his people;
that is why I want to be found waiting among
his people, today, and in the day.

Blessings,

Ron

Psalm 130 – NRSV

Frustrated purposes ...

Today, a prayer and four proverbs for our devotional. Because we minister in a world that is so very different than our ideal, we are particularly inclined to feel upset at the discord of living in two worlds. This can be both stress and anger producing, to say the least. Today’s prayer is offered for those who might struggle with anger, whether righteous or otherwise. One warning: don’t be too quick to deny that you struggle with anger; such denial can be dangerous.

O Lord, today we seek your help,
Your wisdom, your direction.
Your Spirit tells you of our moanings,
Of the mutterings of our troubled hearts;
And of the snarlings of our often angry,
Too-often angry spirits.

You know, All-knowing One, every place that
This world, as we have shaped it, falls short
Of our well-intended designs and expectations.
You know, Great Heart, every hurt,
Every bruise, and disappointment
Inflicted by a world too pointed, too hard,
Too random, too resistant, or too rowdy
For our simple, though well-intended, schemes,
Our hard-headed thinking,
And inadequate assumptions.

O how, Great Creator, how do you cope
With a world that has become
So very unlike the world you shaped,
The world that you envisioned?
How, Holy God, do you hold back
When the reality we create with our action
Is so out of time with your creation,
Is so out of tune with your holy word?
How, Righteous God, do you hold back
Your righteous wrath, when human unrighteousness
Invokes it by injustice, intolerance, and even inhumanity?

We do not hold back, you well know,
When we are crossed, our purposes frustrated.
Heaven help the spouse who has another point of view;
God protect the friend who has a second opinion;
Spirit save and soothe the child who exercises
Freedom of choice against our adamant will;
For we show no mercy, know no grace.
We presume to know your righteous wrath,
And we are swift to improve upon the speed of it.
We are quick to wield your terrible, swift sword;
We cry, “Peace, peace!” while we still swing it.
We cry, “Peace, peace!” yet we refuse to swallow peace:
A drink too bitter for those drunk on the sweet wine of revenge,
High on the potent amphetamines of anger.
No wonder we are not ourselves.

How great must your love be to see
The person that we might be,
The human that you intended for us to be
And still receive the person that we
Have limited ourselves to be.

Heal our emotions, O God;
Help them to be to us that
Which you intended for them to be.
May we neither deny anger’s power,
Nor yield control to that power.
So cultivate in us the virtues of love,
Peacefulness, patience, and understanding
That our anger shadows yours:
Slow to appear, quick to yield to love.

Shape our love to be like your love,
Empower our patience to mirror yours,
And teach us, Father, to be quick and sure
To set aside our wrath in preference for
Your forgiveness, your mercy, and your grace,
In hopes that we might receive from you
Those very great and saving gifts.

May we be more like Jesus,
As we pray in his name.
Amen.

Think on these proverbs through the course of your day:

Proverbs 14:29 - Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding,
but one who has a hasty temper exalts folly.

Proverbs 15:18 - Those who are hot-tempered stir up strife,
but those who are slow to anger calm contention.

Proverbs 16:32 - One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
and one whose temper is controlled than one who captures a city.

Proverbs 19:11 - Those with good sense are slow to anger,
and it is their glory to overlook an offense.
NRSV

Grace, and peace,

Ron

The gospel according to Paul and Leroy

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world. For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers, asking that by God's will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you. For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you — or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as I have among the rest of the Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish — hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, "The one who is righteous will live by faith."
Romans 1:8-17 - NRSV

Last night, Troy and I listened as Leroy Garrett preached this great text. Our brother in Christ reminded us that the gospel is, after all, a very simple and powerful thing. It is a word about God. It is, in sum, three things: the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This, as he reminded us, brings about the threefold response described by our forebears in the Restoration Movement: faith, repentance, and baptism. Our obedience brings us into the blessing of three powerful promises: forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and eternal life.

There it is, in one paragraph, the simplicity of the gospel. That is the preaching, the kerygma, to those who are not yet in Christ. Yet for those who become Christians there yet remains learning the teachings (didache) of the church, our doctrine. Now teaching is an enterprise not accomplished in one paragraph. Actually a lifetime of study would not complete the task; the teachings of the church continue to grow as the world changes and new challenges require new responses.

How is the gospel alive and well in our lives today? How does it affect our world view, our actions, our words? How does it shape our interactions with one another and with those who have yet to claim it? As Leroy put it, “Let us treat others as Jesus Christ has treated us.” That is enough of a challenge for any of us on this good day, this day that God has given us.

Grace, and peace,

Ron

Settling our differences

First of all, several quick notes:

Because readership on Saturday is lighter, Saturday's devotional will simply be a passage of scripture. Meditation on that scripture during the events of the weekend can be powerful for those who will do so.

I've finished with my experiment in html email. It will make a great tool for the Home to communicate with its friends in the weeks to come. For a number of reasons I plan to return this devotional to regular email on Monday, unless the public outcry is against it. If you disagree, you can email me at wbhdir@aol.com.

In case you missed a devo, or misfiled one, an archive of the devotionals has been set up on a blog. The blog's web address is: http://www.wbhdevos.blogspot.com/

Matthew 18:12-35

"Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? And if he finds it, doesn't he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn't want to lose even one of these simple believers.

"If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him — work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend. If he won't listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won't listen, tell the church. If he won't listen to the church, you'll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God's forgiving love.

"Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."

At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?"

Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.

"The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn't pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.

"The poor wretch threw himself at the king's feet and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.

"The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, 'Pay up. Now!'

"The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' But he wouldn't do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid. When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.

"The king summoned the man and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn't you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?' The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that's exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn't forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy."

(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Show grace, make peace,

Ron

The joy of forgiveness

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me

- Psalm 51:7-12

One of the deepest sources of joy in this life is God's forgiveness, and the work that He does in our hearts to purify us. This joy is unquenchable, insatiable, all-consuming. We experience joy and thankfulness because God's transformation of our souls changes us. It permeates us completely, down to the very fabric of who we are. Our identity becomes one of joy and gratitude to Him who makes us pure, clean, and holy.

Lord and Source of All Gifts,
we rejoice in the fullness of your holy generosity.
We thank you especially now
for the gift of change,
the gift of newness
that opens doors closed by habit and routine.
...

We thank you, O End of all Longing,
for the capacity for change in our lives
for without change
there can be no real growth
and no true life.

- excerpt from Edward Hays

God's process of remaking us into new people is a fountain of joy and hope. This transformation brings us into a closer relationship with Christ, which brings us nearer to the greatest joy of all: dancing in the presence of our Father for eternity in Heaven.

There's nowhere else that I'd rather be
than dancing with you as you sing over me
There's nothing else that I'd rather do,
Lord, than to worship you

- song of worship

What joy is evident in these words! Having cleansed us and made us pure, God welcomes us to His home, where we find our ultimate fulfillment. There is nothing else I'd rather do ... Just think on that.

Thank you Lord
for shaping and molding us
for refining us by fire
into what you made us to be

Thank you for washing us
with your blood
in order to renew our hearts
so that we may spend eternity with you
knowing joy without end

We rejoice because you have saved us
We sing for joy because you have rescued us out of our pit
We shout jubilantly in thanks for your awesome works
Thank you for changing us, O Lord,
Our Rock and our Redeemer

Smile and be glad today, because you are not who you once were. God has purified our hearts, so that He could wrap us in His arms forever. May you have joy in the knowledge that God has remade you!

Confession and renewal

Today’s thoughts from Greg:

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
- 1 John 1:8-9

Confession of our guilt makes space for God to operate in our lives. God will act faithfully according to His covenant love, which He sealed with Jesus' blood, if we will only confess our sin and offer our hearts up to Him. What work does this confession make room for God to do? The work of renewal.

Repentance is the restoration of baptism. It is a covenant made with God for a second life. Repentance is the purchasing of humility. Repentance is always distrustful of bodily enchantment. It is self-critical reasoning and solicitude for ones' carelessness. Repentance is the daughter of hope and the denial of hopelessness. Repentance is being guilty but not put to shame. Repentance is reconciliation with the Lord through the performance of good works that are the opposite of one’s faults. Repentance is the purification of conscience.
- John Climacus, Ladder of Paradise 5

Confession leads to repentance, the commitment live differently than we have before. When our repentance meets God's promise of grace and mercy, new life happens. This transformation, the renewal of our souls, is the essence of salvation; having been drawn to God, this renewal of our inner being makes us more like God, and less like the sinful nature we have identified and repented of. Confession and restoration are two sides of the same coin. Hear a prayer of confession and rebirth by Kenneth Slack:

God of mercy and forgiveness, For the times when our love of indulgence and ease have weakened our hold on spiritual things; pardon us.

For when we have not held our bodies in subjection, and have forgotten that they were meant to be temples of your Holy Spirit; pardon us.

For the times we have failed those who have trusted us,and have been concerned with ourselves when they needed our concern; pardon us.

For the times when we have failed in courage, when we have failed to take a stand for righteousness, when we have come to terms with evil in our own lives; pardon us.

And make us new, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Let us kneel before God's throne, so that we may be forgiven and transformed according to God's image. May God's Spirit be with you today, and always.

Greg

Multiplying forgiveness

Once again we come to the end of the week. Tomorrow, being Sunday, will be our regular Sabbath from this daily enterprise. Then, for the next week, Greg Steele will be writing the daily devotional thoughts and I will be forwarding them on to you. Greg has kindly consented to give me a break so that I can prepare for the board meeting next week, and rethink exactly how I want to continue with the devotional thought project. I think that it has some value. I know that some of you do, too, but also probably a few of you wish I would spend my time doing something else. I’m open to suggestions. I do think that maintaining a spiritual focus in our work is job one.

Now today’s thoughts.

To My Mother
by Wendell Berry

I was your rebellious son,
do you remember? Sometimes
I wonder if you do remember,
so complete has your forgiveness been.

So complete has your forgiveness been
I wonder sometimes if it did not
precede my wrong, and I erred,
safe found, within your love,

prepared ahead of me, the way home,
or my bed at night, so that almost
I should forgive you, who perhaps
foresaw the worst that I might do,

and forgave before I could act,
causing me to smile now, looking back,
to see how paltry was my worst,
compared to your forgiveness of it

already given. And this, then,
is the vision of that Heaven of which
we have heard, where those who love
each other have forgiven each other,

where, for that, the leaves are green,
the light a music in the air,
and all is unentangled,
and all is undismayed.

An imaginary dialogue
(You’ll have to guess who the speakers are)

Forgive.
OK, I will.

Forgive. Forgive.
Why should I? I already did.
I know; do it anyway.

Forgive. Forgive. Forgive.
But they’re not even saying that they’re sorry!
Do you confess everything to me?
. . .
I guess that would be a “no.” Forgive.
OK.

Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive.
Isn’t this solution just a bit simplistic?
It appears to be working in our relationship.
. . . Sometimes I just don’t know how to answer you.
Try saying, “Yes.”
Yes.

Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive.
This has got to stop; they’re not repenting.
So how are you coming along with your . . .
OK, OK, let’s not go there. I’ll try . . .
Do you want me to try, or to forgive?

Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive.
Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive.
Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive.
Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive.
Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive.
Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive.
Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive.
OK, I get that this is the seventy times seven thing, but
do you not see what this is doing to me?
Yes, I do.
But this is abusive.
It is my job to deal with impenitent abuse, not yours;
do you think you can cure abuse with abuse?
But this is killing me.
Do you really want to go there? It has already killed me.
You’re sounding pretty healthy now.
I will forgive the sarcasm and note that perhaps my good health
is connected to my ability to forgive.
It’s just that you don’t sound too broken up to me.
Every time a soul rebels against my Father it breaks my heart.
I understand.
I don’t mean this in a mean way, but there is no way
that you ever have, that you ever will understand
the depth or breadth or intensity of the pain in
the heart of God.
I’m sorry. It’s just that this is so painful.
Growth can be painful.
What does that mean?
Forgiveness is one of the disciplines that shapes
your character with the virtue of forgiving,
And shapes you into an image of me.
I will do what I can.
And I will help.

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Jesus, forgive me for putting my words into your mouth,
but for millennia, my sisters and brothers have done this;
imagining what you might say, thinking about how
the conversation would go.
We search for answers knowing that you are the Truth.
May we know you well enough to speak the truth, to
speak a word of peace, on your behalf.
May that word of peace always imitate
Your grace and your forgiveness.

Show grace, discover peace.

Ron