No Magic Pill

An Anglican priest recently resigned her pulpit. She could not continue to preach peace and reconciliation after the death of her daughter in the London subway bombings. The March 7th London Times wrote: "Mrs. Nicholson's loss is great and her faith troubled, but her integrity is intact. To extend forgiveness to the misguided, the mistaken, or the ignorant is significantly easier if they offer repentance. Suicide bombers do not linger to explain their actions."

Forgiveness is a gift we give those who love poorly...and the hard truth is that we all love poorly. Henri Nouwen

We will teach on forgiveness in our LifeSpace class this week. We keep several people very close to us on this topic. Our dear friends, Celestin and Bernadette Musekura, are Rwandan pastors who preach reconciliation across Africa. They stare in the face of the horrific genocide and call their fellow human beings to extend the God-given grace of forgiveness.

We also are informed by Miroslav Volf as we encounter him in his writings and when we see him periodically. In his book, Exclusion and Embrace, Miroslav explores his journey to forgiveness after the genocide in Eastern Europe. He speaks of embracing the "other" as a divine calling.

We sit at the feet of our friends and hear their stories. Stories of redemption in the midst of unfathomable pain. Stories of the Spirit moving to free humans from the constricting, suffocating bonds of anger and hate. We believe God transforms even that which we cannot yet see as worthy of redemption.

As we teach this week, our prayer will be lifted up for our sister across the ocean. We doubt that her integrity is much comfort as she reels from the loss of two great loves: her daughter and her work. There is no magic pill for forgiving. It is a long and arduous journey...or it can happen in a heartbeat. May our sister be open to the bright-winged presence of the Spirit in the fullness of time...and may God comfort her in the midst.

Joni and Bob