Lord, Teach Me to Forgive
ONE DAY, a man, his heart heavy with grief, was walking in the woods. As he thought about his life, he knew many things were not right. He thought about those who had lied about him back when he had a job. His thoughts turned to those who had stolen his things and cheated him. He thought of family that had passed on and the illness he had that no-one could cure. His very soul was filled with anger, resentment and frustration.
Standing there searching for answers he could not find, knowing all else had failed him, he knelt at the base of an old oak tree to seek the One he knew would always be there. And with tears in his eyes, he prayed: “Lord, you have done wonderful things for me in this life. You have told me to do many things for you, and I happily obeyed. Today, you have told me to forgive. I am sad, Lord, because I can’t. I don’t know how. I didn’t deserve these wrongs that were done against me. My anger is so deep, Lord, I fear I may not hear you, but I pray that you teach me to do this one thing I cannot do – Teach me to forgive.”
As he knelt there in the quiet shade of that old oak tree, he felt something fall onto his shoulder. He opened his eyes. Out of the corner of one eye he saw something red on his shirt. He could not turn to see what it was because where the oak tree had been was a large square piece of wood in the ground. He raised his head and saw two feet held to the wood with a large spike through them. He raised his head more, and tears came to his eyes as he saw Jesus hanging on a cross, spikes in his hands, deep thorns in his head, a gash in his side. Finally he saw the suffering and pain on his face. As their eyes met the man’s tears turned to sobbing, and Jesus began to speak.
“Have you ever told a lie?” he asked. The man answered: “Yes, Lord.” “Have you ever been given too much change and kept it?” The man answered: “Yes, Lord,” and he sobbed more and more. Jesus asked “Have you ever taken something from work that wasn’t yours?” and the man answered “Yes, Lord.” “Have you ever sworn, using my Father’s name in vain?” The man answered “Yes, Lord” and his crying became uncontrollable.
Then Jesus turned his head from one side to the other and the man felt something fall on his shoulder. He looked and saw that it was the blood of Jesus. He looked up and his eyes met those of Jesus and there was a look of love the man had never seen or known before. Jesus said, “I didn’t deserve this either, but I forgive you.”
Jock, the painter, often would thin his paint so it would go further. So when the church decided to do some deferred maintenance, Jock was able to put in the lowest bid and got the job. As always, he thinned his paint, but with the job almost done, he heard a huge clap of thunder and the sky opened. The downpour washed the thinned paint off the church and knocked Jock off the scaffolding onto the ground. He knew it was a warning and cried: “Oh God! Forgive me! What should I do?” And from the thunder came a mighty voice: “REPAINT! REPAINT! AND THIN NO MORE!”