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June 2000 Table of Contents
Food For Thought
Loving God...Loving Others
By Derric Johnson
 When George Pickett was seventeen, he won appointment to West Point through his uncle's law partner in Illinois. He was supposed to follow his uncle's footsteps in law, but George wanted a military career.
Pickett graduated in 1846 and distinguished himself in the Mexican War. He became famous as the leader of Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, then joined Lee's Army against Grant in the last days of the Civil War.
News reached his wife that he had been killed...but she wouldn't believe it. Everyone had fled Richmond but she was waiting for her man alone with her baby.
There was a loud knocking at the front door. She opened it to face a tall man who asked, "Is this the George Pickett home?"
With all the courage and dignity she could muster, she replied, "Yes, I am his wife and this is his baby."
The man spoke softly, "I am Abraham Lincoln."
"The President?" she gasped. Her husband had spoken often about this man...the friend of his uncle...the lawyer from Illinois who had secured his appointment to West Point.
The stranger shook his head and said, "No…not the President. I am Abraham Lincoln...George's old friend." The baby reached out his hands to Mr. Lincoln who took him and gave him a gentle kiss.
"Your father will be home soon," the President said. "Tell him I forgive his rebel heart for the sake of your baby-bright eyes."
To forgive means more than just "to pardon." Originally it meant "to return good treatment for ill usage." Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it. To forgive calls upon our love...to forget calls upon our strength.
Bad temper is its own scourge. Few things are more bitter than to feel bitter. A man's venom poisons himself more than his victim. Resentment builds up slowly and quietly in the rear recesses of our souls. After awhile it becomes almost comfortable...like a shield protecting us from the light of truth. It's a little like an old shoe that's comfortable, casual, cherished...and smelly. Bitterness can feel almost cozy...the more you think about it, the more you cherish it. It's like something we call a "warm-fuzzy"...when in reality, it's as cold as an ice pick. Booker T. Washington is credited with saying, "I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him."
Refusal to forgive someone of anything at one step makes the next step unavoidable...moving from offense,
to resentment,
to grudge,
to hatred,
to revenge.
The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies...probably because they are generally the same people. So no matter what... always remember that grudges are like live hand grenades...it's wise to release them before they destroy you.
Two monks who were on a pilgrimage came to the bank of a river. There they saw a girl dressed in all her finery, obviously not knowing what to do since the river was high and she didn't want to spoil her clothes. Without much ado, one of the monks took her on his back, carried her across and put her down on dry ground on the other side.
Then the monks continued on their way. But the other monk after an hour started complaining, "Surely it is not right to touch a woman. It is against the commandments to have close contact with women. How could you go against the rules of monks?"
The monk who had carried the girl walked along silently, but finally he remarked, "I set her down by the river an hour ago. Why are you still carrying her?"
Let go of the problems of 'the river'...and get on with the journey.
Esther Armstrong and Dale Stitt in their book Journey Into Freedom present seven contemporary myths about forgiveness. Ponder these...
1 Forgiveness is the same as forgetting...WRONG--I can forgive...I probably won't forget.
2 Forgiveness is the same as condoning...WRONG--I can forgive the person without supporting the behavior.
3 Forgiveness is the same as absolution...WRONG--My forgiving doesn't take away the person's need to take responsibility for his or her behavior.
4 Forgiveness is a form of self-sacrifice...WRONG--It is facing up to personal spiritual responsibility.
5 Forgiveness is a sign of weakness...WRONG--It is a sign of strength because forgiveness takes courage.
6 Forgiveness is a one-time event...WRONG--It is often a process.
7 Forgiveness is easy...WRONG--Forgiveness is hard work.
While being exposed to American Literature in high school, a story by Ernest Hemingway caught my attention and rattled around in the alcoves of my subconscious and reappeared to my attention in the book What's So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancey.
It seems that a Spanish father and son had disagreed so violently that the son disappeared. Two years later the father heard that his son was in the big city of Madrid, and he made the decision to try to reconcile with him. In great hopefulness, the father took out an ad in the EL Liberal newspaper that read..."PACO MEET ME AT HOTEL MONTANA NOON TUESDAY. ALL IS FORGIVEN. PAPA." When the father got to the square where the hotel was located, he found eight hundred young men named Paco...all waiting to be forgiven by their fathers.
Who knows who's waiting for a reach, a touch, a hug, a smile...a "welcome back into my life."
If those of us who try to interpret scripture for every day, modern life, read it right...then we have some strong mandates regarding these attitudes of forgiveness and wholeness. Eugene Peterson in THE MESSAGE translates I John 2:11 "Whoever hates his brother or sister is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn't know which end is up, because they are blinded by that darkness."
If that is true then this must be true as well...It is impossible for me to love God any more than I love the most unlovable person in my life. Now there's a think-spot for you.
The piece of steel was hard, tough and unbending, but it had to be molded and formed to be useful.
The axe spoke first. "I'll use my blade and cut him down to size." At first there were just small strokes...but they were to no avail. So the axe swung harder...and harder...and harder! The steel remained unchanged, but the axe was nicked and scarred forever. "I give up," he said. "Nothing can change that piece of steel." Then the saw moved in. "This steel cannot withstand the tearing of my furious teeth. He will shape up in no time at all." But the longer the saw gouged, the more the steel seemed to resist. At last, exhausted and toothless the saw slumped back and said, "I give up. Nothing can change that piece of steel"
The hammer said, "Move aside. I'll force him to conform...or I'll break him." But the harder the hammer hit, the more resilient the steel seemed to become. And the breaking hammer was broken himself...and he too said, "it's impossible. Nothing can change that piece of steel. I give up."
Then the quiet flame stepped forward and said, "May I try?" The axe and the saw and the hammer laughed. "If we in our strength failed, what can you possibly do to succeed. Frail little flame. Don't even try!"
"Just watch," said the flame as it wrapped itself around the piece of steel, and began to warm it. The longer the flame shared its gentle heat, the softer the steel became...until at last, it was shaped and formed to become what it was intended to be.
And the flame said to the axe and the saw and the hammer, "You see, what strength and force and anger can never achieve, love with its warmth and touch will always complete."
Remember... the greatest of all is love.
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