Valerie Schultz: On Easter — 'Our father, forgive us ... as we forgive'
Even unforgivable souls are loved by God
| Saturday, Apr 11 2009 06:19 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Apr 11 2009 10:04 PM
"He who is devoid of the power to forgive, is devoid of the power to love."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Images
Casey Christie / The Californian Hundreds of children scramble for the plastic eggs Saturday at the Kern County Museum during the Eggstravaganza, a very large Easter egg hunt. Though hundreds were inside during the event, there was still a very long line in front of the museum of people that were unabel to particiapte in the egg hunt because of the large turnout.
We celebrate Easter this Sunday, a time of joy and glory, first, that salvation is possible, and second, that Lent is over and we can dive into all those jellybeans and chocolate eggs. For followers of Christ, Easter is the high point of the liturgical calendar. We commemorate Jesus' resurrection, at the same time that we breathe deeply of the seasonal new life that comes with spring. We are also grateful that, through Christ's sacrifice, we are a forgiven people.
To be forgiven is a deeply-ingrained human need: in the "Our Father," forgiveness is mentioned just after "daily bread." Perhaps forgiveness is bread for the soul. When we pray the "Our Father," we ask God to forgive us in exactly the same vein that we forgive others, which, for most of us, is a pretty risky thing to ask. I still haven't quite forgiven my brother for boycotting my sister's wedding. I haven't forgiven the two guys who robbed my daughter at gunpoint. I have barely forgiven my husband for the time he told me that my new haircut looked "mature." I am in big trouble if God is going to forgive me my sins the way I forgive others, which is why I prefer to pray for God's mercy and compassion.
Even the qualities of mercy and compassion seem to belong more to the divine than to us flawed mortals. The way that Jesus, from the cross, prayed for mercy for his torturers and executioners, is a hard act to follow. We marvel at how Jesus was able to find the strength to pull off the seemingly meek act of "turning the other cheek." We are not so good at this particular biblical directive. We often interpret it as an act of weakness, or as letting others take advantage of us. But its practice is the way we get better at letting go of the things we think we can never forgive.
As much as we want to be forgiven, why do we find it so difficult to forgive? We know from experience that we will only feel better if we do. We know we will not move forward on the journey to emotional maturity if we hold onto the past hurts and wrongs that have happened to us. It is a moment of shining grace to realize that we have the power to forgive. And that bestowing forgiveness is liberating, invigorating, and life-altering.
To be better forgivers, it also helps to get over our aversion to empathy. When we can put ourselves in another's place, we find more forgivable the things we can imagine ourselves doing. For example, we've all had bad days when we've done something foolish in traffic because we aren't paying attention to our surroundings. We know what it's like to be overburdened, overstressed, overtired, overwhelmed, and so we can summon some compassion when we suffer these shortcomings at the hands of others.
We cannot truly love those whom we cannot forgive, and that includes ourselves. I know: loving ourselves sounds like one of those touchy-feely, Oprah-like concepts. But if we fail to love and forgive ourselves, we fail everyone else in our lives. We have to start at home, from scratch, at rock bottom: Do I love myself? Can I love myself? Am I capable of forgiving myself? Where do I begin? Faced with such a daunting task, we would do well to keep in mind that even the most seemingly unforgivable souls among us are still loved by God.
"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us," we believers pray, often by rote, but then we must behave in a way that makes that prayer meaningful. We must actually forgive those who trespass against us, and ask forgiveness of those whom we have hurt, if our faith is to make any sense at all. We must believe, deeply and passionately, in the power of forgiving, and of being forgiven.
As we celebrate Easter today, maybe our faith does not extend beyond the chocolate bunnies. Maybe we do not subscribe to the creed of a benevolent savior. Even so, may we allow the fresh spring air to cleanse our hearts of old resentments. May we take a clear-eyed look at those relationships that need some spring cleaning. And may we practice forgiveness. I believe it can change the world.
