Forgiveness

Forgiveness is one of the most powerful acts of love we can bestow, when given without condition and humbly received, healing begins.

    In the story of The Prodigal Son, Trench writes, "Nor should we fail to note that it is AFTER, and not before, the kiss of reconciliation, that this confession finds place; that kiss did not stop the mouth of his confession, but opened it rather; for the more the sinner knows and tastes of the love of God, the more he grieves ever to have sinned against that love."

    

    As I glance out the window on this ice cold morning, where pansy bloom and lingering rose bud brave the frost, the sparkling ice shimmers in deadly finality on the garden remnants, hard and unforgiving. Inside, the fire on the hearth burns as one candle in our advent wreath shines brightly. Here, a grandson and a kitten, luxuriously lounging, feel warmth and protection, mirroring this idea, that it is often that which we are given that creates our reflective response.

    Trench concludes his analogy thus, "It is under the genial rays of this kindly love, that the heart, which was before bound up as by a deadly frost, begins to thaw and to melt and loosen, and the waters of repentance to flow freely. The knowledge of God's love in Christ is the cruse of salt which alone can turn the bitter and barren-making streams of remorse into the healing waters of repentance. (2 Kin. ii. 19-22)

    As we face difficulties in the hours unfolding, where our flesh makes ready justification of our own rights and privileges over those who will wrong us, in truth or by our own perception, perhaps we might consider the illogical response of forgiveness first, God's steady supply of a Bonfire's worth of love to thaw each heart, including our own, in this chilly day.  

    God bless you and fuel you!