Forgiveness. As Americans with a residue of Christian culture, we take it for granted. We are the country that made the Mother Country our closest ally after the American Revolution. Remember after the Civil war the words of Abraham Lincoln,
“With Malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds.”We are the nation that rebuilt its enemies after World War II. Forgiveness has been a part of the national psyche.
There is a qualification of forgiveness that most of us miss. We are to forgive. It does not say that the other guy must, or will. Christian morality is one way. It is extended because God demands it, not because they deserve it. Thus we have the turning of cheeks, the going of miles and sharing of coats. This is why we feed our enemies.
The world thinks that the standard is quid pro quo. Not so.
We are forgetting what forgiveness is all about and why it is necessary. When we hear the mantra about reparations we are forgetting that such demands only divide us as a people. If we follow that path we will fall apart. Think about all the atrocities that the Irish could bring up to justify hating their English neighbor. How about the Americans with a Korean ancestry. Should they forever hate the Japanese that have been here longer than they have? Forget the complaints that some American Indians have against the European invaders, what about all the reasons that other tribes had to hate the Iroquois. We could start quite a few mini-civil wars between the Indian tribes alone.
Our national motto is E Pluribus Unum. That was, is and will be impossible without forgiveness.
Since we seem to be following that path the Balkanization of America could be inevitable.
Pray that you would learn to forgive.
homo unius libri
I've seen evidence in the Bible that we don't have to forgive unless the culprit asks for it. If they ASK, though, we MUST forgive. However, forgiveness is a good attitude because it frees US from carrying the burden.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with your second sentence but I personally believe that we are also supposed to exercise forgiveness as an attitude even when it is not requested. Consider turning the other cheek. Does he have to ask?
DeleteGrace and peace