She forgave him.
And this is why I think Jesus still lives inside of people.
When one man is killed on the streets, violent riots break out like fire.
But when 9 people are killed in a church, forgiveness breaks forth like water from a levee.
She forgave him.
I know it’s a lot more complicated than this, but this seems to symbolize the difference between how the world responds to violence, versus what Christ asks of His Church.
He says, “Look, I forgave you. So you must forgive them.”
And the mother of one of the victims said about the shooter, "I forgive him."
I can only assume that forgiving like this is very, very hard. Something like giving an organ transplant to the killer. It is an absurd proposition, to do a very tender operation for a person who hurt you, at a very high cost to you.
The mother said, ”Every fiber in my body hurts. And I will never be the same.” And yet within two days she, along with several others in the courtroom, flooded the murderer with the freedom of forgiveness. She said, “I forgive you.”
They forgave him.
What must have been happening inside of her to give her the strength to lift such a burden off of him and onto herself?
Perhaps someone else was also inside of her, comforting and carrying.
Because she somehow forgave him.
And how could she do it after her son, and friends, probably her greatest treasures, were shot right beside her!?
Perhaps someone else was lying right beside her too.
Because she somehow forgave him.
And this is what makes me think the reason she was a church going woman was not because that’s just what she had always done. Or just for her kids. Or just to see her friends. Or be entertained by the songs. She was not in church that day for any of that.
She forgave him.
And this shows me that she went to church because she went there with someone. Someone had earned her trust and she had already put her greatest treasures in His hands. He was with her, helping her. So that when her treasures were taken away, she was able to do what only the strongest, most compassionate of men and women have, for all of human existence, struggled to do.
She forgave him.
And it is things like this that make me think Jesus still lives in people.
Raw Spoon, 6-20-15
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