The Hardest Part

What do you think is the hardest part of life?

On more than one occasion I have found myself whole-heartedly agreeing with the title of an old Tom Petty song... "the waiting is the hardest part."  But in all reality, there is something much more difficult to practice; even though it is something that most of us would like receive from others at various and sundry times in our life.

Any guesses?

One word. Three syllables.

Begins with an F and ends with an S.

Got it figured out yet?

Need another clue?

Okay, think about the last time you did something you know you should not have done, and someone you care very much about, found out about it. What would you most want from them?

That's right. FORGIVENESS.

So what brought me to this topic? Actually it was a couple of interviews wherein the people being interviewed talked about forgiving those who had done great harm to them and to others.

The first interview was with a woman by the name of Dawn Stefanowicz. Dawn grew up in a home where the sexual desires of adults were put ahead of her needs and well-being. According to Catholic World Report;

Dawn was born in Toronto. Her father became an active homosexual at an early age. He was a successful businessman. Desiring children, he married, and the relationship produced Dawn and two brothers, one her twin. After Dawn and her brother were conceived, their father ended sexual relations with his wife, and pursued homosexual relationships at well-known gay meeting places in Canada and the United States. Dawn was often brought along to many of these locations, even as a child. Her father had numerous gay lovers, and brought them into the home. At age 51, in 1991, he died of AIDS. 

Today, Dawn lives in Ontario, Canada. She is a licensed accountant, a Christian, a public advocate of children being reared in homes with opposite-sex, married couples, and a vocal defender of traditional marriage. She has been married to a man for 28 years, and has two teen-aged children. 

In 2007, she published Out From Under: The Impact of Homosexual Parenting, a book about her experiences growing up in the GLBT(sic) world. On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the release of her book, she spoke with  Catholic World Report.

In the interview she stated,

When [my father] was dying, I especially prayed for him. I wanted to forgive him and be at peace. I did forgive him.

The other interview was with one of the victims of the shooting that took place at the Century 16 theatre premier showing of the Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises.

Pierce O'Farrill, who survived being shot three times in the attack, told The Denver Post he has forgiven the gunman and feels sorrow for him. "I want to see him sometime. The first thing I want to say to him is 'I forgive you,' and the next is, 'Can I pray for you?'"

Many people might consider Dawn and Pierce "bleeding-heart liberals" or something along those lines. As for me, I see them as shining examples of God's perfect love. You see, "perfect loves drives out all fear"  (1 John 4:18), and these two have shown that they have no fear of what others might think of them and their willingness and desire to forgive someone who perpetrated heinous acts against them.

The world wants "justice" for people who harm others, but God teaches that we should love our enemies and leave the judgment and justice up to him (see Romans 12:14, 17, 19, 21). Of course, when  we screw up, we ask for understanding, compassion and mercy. But when the other guy messes up, we want his or her "head on a platter!" (cf. Mark 6:25)

Interestingly enough, there are those who claim to follow Christ, that have great difficulty extending forgiveness to others. 

For example, You could have knocked me over with a feather when I heard  my pastor admit in a small group meeting that he has a hard time forgiving others! Wow! If even a pastor has a hard time with it, what chance do we stand of practicing forgiveness?!?

The answer  lies in our respective walk with our savior, Christ Jesus. There are always going to be biblical precepts and principles that each of us will have more difficulty with than others might have. But the solution is to always strive to abide in Christ and allow him to abide in us. We are powerless, but he has all power. As the old song says, "We are weak but he is strong." As we come to know the great love God has for us (Jn 3:16) and experience that love on a daily basis, we can't help but become a wellspring of God's living water.  (See Jn 4:14)