My
heart stood still at the power of the words. My reliable “truth
bell” rang in my head. I realized that the saving grace
of God’s
forgiveness was a free gift, yes, but one that required our center
of consent, our voluntary participation, our vulnerable openness.
Something
inside me raced ahead to anticipate the release--the reality
of the
biblical assertion that “the truth shall set you free.” I began
to sense the value of accepting things as they were and as they
had happened.
I saw the bitter cost of unforgiveness:
nothing short of the utter erosion of one’s life. And, in my basic selfishness, I wanted no part of it.
Which
set me thinking about something else… Perhaps God’s gift of
self-preservation, of self-interest could be experienced as a benevolent
guide instead of an ego trip (the negative tag of our self-judgment!). Perhaps
God
had created us in such a way that to forgive another is to break the chains
that bind US, to free ourselves from the prison which limits our own freedom.
Perhaps
C.S. Lewis had it right when he wrote that “… the gate to hell
is locked from the inside.”
The invitation to forgive reminds
us that we hold
the key.
Copyright ©2004
Linda Douty
