Jack’s Winning Words 6/6/19
“The weak can never forgive.  Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”  (Gandhi)  These two words go together…apologize and forgiveness.  Somewhere along life’s road I was taught that that there can be no forgiveness until the perpetrator says, “I’m sorry, forgive me.”  Then the person who’s been harmed has to decide whether or not to forgive.  That’s how it works with God, too…always a willingness to forgive.  The “strong” person will follow that example.   ;-)  Jack

FROM TL IN SCS:  The even stronger person will forgive without those spoken words. Thanks be to God for the strength.===JACK:  Forgiveness seems to go against our natural inclinations.  The Parable of the Prodigal Son is an example of this.  It's sometimes called, the Parable of the Forgiving Father...an illustration of God's forgiveness. 

 FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  The Marshall plan was a wonderful idea for forgiveness!===JACK:  Can you imagine such a plan being suggested (even implemented) in today's political climate>  No wonder the people of the 30s and 40s are called, The Greatest Generation.  ===SHIRL:  I  am watching the Normandy ceremony this morning! If it were not for all of the brave men we would be speaking German or Japanese today! What a different world it would be===JACK:  Unbelievable courage!

FROM SL IN WBT:  Good morning   I believe that forgiveness begins with forgiving ones self.  I learned the meaning of forgiveness when my husband of 32 years divorced me.   I sought the advice of my Rabbi; remembered the teaching of my parents; and recalled an experience where a friend guided me to forgive someone that had hurt my dad professionally, when my husband on Yom Kippur asked me to forgive him?  I told him I had to think about it……. I called him days later and we met….. I told him I forgave him.   It was at that moment I realized that I could not just say the words, I had to practice and truly forgive.  In that process of truly forgiving I became aware that in order to understand forgiveness I needed to forgive myself.   The journey of learning forgiveness has served me to be a peaceful woman, finding joy without the burden of that comes with not forgiving.  Most recently I have had to practice forgiveness again…….. I now know the practice and will continue the hard work that comes with the words …… forgive….Have a good day and thank you for your Winning Words===JACK:  You have captured the thought.  Congratulations!

FROM HONEST JOHN:  I wonder if it isn’t God’s forgivingness that brings about our repentance rather than the reverse===JACK:  "Who has known the mind of God."  Forgiveness is simple, but it's also complicated.  In many ways we limp through life trying to mimic the perfection of God.  But he would not ask us to do something that we are incapable of doing.

FROM SF:  Agree. Forgiveness is for yourself. Enables you to move on. It does not, by the way, mean that you forget!===JACK:  Hmmmm!  After He has forgiven, do you suppose that the omnipotent God forget?.  I happen to think that he has a Delete key on his computer===SF:  Hah! I’d like some proof of that delete key! Lol!!===JACK:  God also knows how to "Save."

FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL:  you might also note, Jack, that the very strongest person is the one who forgives even when the perpetrator does NOT ask for forgiveness.  and sometimes its not possible for the perpetrator to ask for forgiveness due to death,  distance, dementia,   or even an unwillingness to do so. ===JACK:  The "trouble" with forgiveness comes when we try to explain it.  You know it when you feel it.

FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  What about Jesus, Pastor Freed, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do?" and then further on St. Stephen, praying the same thing?  I actually believe I've forgiven a lot of things when I realized someone didn't actually know information and was acting out of ignorance.  They didn't even realize to be able to say they were sorry and suppose others have forgiven me too for same reason.  Suppose that's why we pray for forgiveness for sins of commission and omission.  Anyway, thanks for the Winning Words, I'll probably be reflecting, off and on, on them all day long because I seem to have a Martin Luther complex which leads me to be very sensitive and aware to the deep tendencies to all kinds of sinning in me, including doubt and so forth and constant need for mercy and forgiveness.  Your quote is from Gandhi but the commentary could easily have been in the mind of Martin Luther in his day, just my opinion.===JACK:  You're very perceptive, Sharon.  I guess that the words of Jesus and of Stephen were actually a prayer to God.  (We can ask anything of the Lord.  (What is forgiveness if the "sinner" doesn't know of the "sin"?  ...just wondering.)As for me sounding like Luther, it's how I was trained...as a Lutheran pastor.  We all are who we were.  Who shaped you into who you are...or, in reality, are we continuing to be shaped.  Having come into contact with you certainly caused me to see meaning in the words... the priesthood of all believers.  So there!  You have been ordained as a priest!


FROM SHALOM JAN:  I beg to differ, Jack.  There are many times in our lives when we need to forgive someone who will never apologize for wronging us.  That really is the way of the Lord; "...while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)  Not to mention, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."===JACK:  Words often get in the way.  That's why some e-mails and some sermons are misunderstood.  Face to face is often the best...but not always.===JAN:  The other piece is, to forgive someone does not mean you will re-enter the same relationship with them you had before, especially if that was an abusive or otherwise unhealthy relationship.  That is what too many people think "forgiveness" means.  And, forgiving, for us humans, rarely means forgetting.===JACK:  I guess you have to have done it or received it to truly understand it, and, even then, it's hard to describe.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:    I grew up with forgive even if there is no “sorry” involved by the one doing the injury. Holding onto anger and vengeance injures the one holding onto the injury and only hurts the one holding on to it.===JACK:  Who benefits most, the forgiver or the forgiven?===JUDY:   Depends on the injury!  But it helps me (the forgiver) the most.