Second Presbyterian Church

The next day, Karl—the Nazi officer—died.  The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness goes on to say that years after Simon Wiesenthal had walked out on Karl, he realized that he still didn’t have closure in his life.  He did what many of us would see as unthinkable:  he visited Karl’s elderly mother, in part—he says—because he wanted to hear some story that would clearly contradict the ambivalent feelings of sympathy that he continued to have for him.  However, he did not find such a contradiction and, although he considered sharing with Karl’s mother the stories of some of the atrocities that Karl had described to him, he chose not to take away her memory of her son.  Again, he left in silence.

In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul calls us to be agents of reconciliation.  Even though resentments gnaw at us, and can make us prisoners to actions and people who already have caused us harm, forgiveness—at appropriate times—can clear out junk in our lives, and can allow us to use our emotional energy and our life for what God has called us to do and for who God has called us to be.  Forgiven, we are to forgive others.  But that we can do only through the power of God.

Be a blessing to others,

Craig