To Forgive

There's so much to say about forgiveness that I scarcely know where to begin. I'll probably blog more about it tomorrow but here's some random thoughts:

I've been reading a lot of Steve Taylor/Chagall Guevara's lyrics and ran across this song that I vaguely remember. Part of it says...

Follow his lead
Let the madness recede
When we shatter the cycle of pain
Oh, we will live
To forgive

I love that part about shattering the cycle of pain. If we hold onto our anger, to our bitterness, we are allowing the person who wronged us to continue controlling our lives. It is not THEM who is punished - it is US.

A couple of weeks ago I went to a church and found "If" by Amy Carmichael tucked into my bulletin. Amy was a Christian missionary in India who rescued temple prostitutes (children). She certainly saw a lot of things that we would find hard to forgive. This particular part caught my eye:

If I say, "Yes, I forgive, but I cannot forget," as though the God, who twice a day washes all the sands on all the shores of all the world, could not wash such memories from my mind, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

Isn't that beautiful?