Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. Ghandi

Forgiveness. The lack of it, and the power of it. I saw it all in one hour of TV news this week.

In the first half-hour of local news, there was a report that a juvenile lifer had been re-sentenced, and would be released. It was the story of a local area woman who had committed a terrible crime at the age of 16. Now, 30 years later, thanks to a Supreme Court Ruling, she’s hoping to get a fresh start. She’ll get out in September. 

The sad part of the story was the lack of forgiveness by the family of the victim. As this 48-year-old woman tearfully tried to tell her story of redemption in the court and offer her condolences to the family, they turned their backs to her and plugged their ears! 

I was taken aback by that behavior. I’m a firm believer in restorative justice, and members of our team do our best to try to help juvenile lifers who may have a crack at a new life. This broke my heart. 

Then came the next half-hour---national news. And a heartwarming story. 

There was a scary moment in the first inning of a little league championship game. A pitch got away from the hurler, and the ball struck the batter in the head. Luckily, it hit his helmet, so he was able to remain in the game. The young pitcher, however, was distraught…he felt terrible. Seeing this, after making his way to first base, the batter ran over to console the pitcher. He gave him a hug and was heard saying, "Hey, you're doing just great." 

All of these lessons about forgiveness, or lack thereof, in one hour of actuality TV. 

I appreciate stories of forgiveness, probably because I need so much of it. I never forgot a Grand Rapids courtroom news clip. A sweet, elderly woman faced the man who murdered her son and told him, “I have forgiven you from the bottom of my heart. As a mother, you’re a child to me, and in my heart, I have no anger or bitterness toward you,” she said through tears. 

What a difference between those two local courtroom scenes. 

Reformed theologian Lew Smedes is quoted as saying, “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” 

I’m so grateful that when I seek forgiveness, my Lord won’t turn his back on me and plug his ears. 

Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Half-a-race!

The HFP Drag-Racing Fund-Raiser had the potential of being extremely successful, and could have raised several thousand dollars. Let's just say it was partly successful. For background purposes I'll explain that I was racing a 1963 supercharged Studebaker Lark that has a reputation of being one of the fastest stock Studebakers in drag racing today. The engine was built by one of the finest Studebaker engine mechanics in the country, and the car many times has achieved quarter-mile runs in less than 14 seconds! We promised to make at least ten passes in the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drags at Mid-Michigan Motorplex in Stanton, Michigan, this past weekend, and we asked for pledges ONLY ON THOSE RUNS REACHED IN LESS THAN 14 SECONDS. On Friday, here's how we fared: Run #1 13.936 @ 101.24 mph Run #2 14.027 @ 101.30 mph Run #3 14.091 @ 100.88 mph Run #4 13.805 @ 102.84 mph Run #5 14.058 @ 101.26 mph By the 5th run we discovered that ...
Read more

Gregory John McCormick: 1964-2008

Itchy is dead. The lifeless body of this talented rock musician, whose band Shock Therapy was a popular group especially in Europe, was found in a field in Detroit last Wednesday, November 5. The Wayne County Coroner's office informed father Glenn McCormick that the body of his son Gregory, better known to all of us as Itchy, bore no signs of trauma. Glenn said that Itchy, who had been living at his father's dental lab in Detroit, had been drinking to excess for some time. While the toxicology report has not been released yet, the general consensus seems to be that he drank himself to death. Our agency, while still named INNOCENT, first got involved with Itchy in 2005. The Detroit native, who called Germany his home, got involved in some unfortunate activity that placed him in the Michigan State prison system on a charge of arson of a dwelling. It was really just a bonfire in an alley, but an alleged parole violation placed him in prison for 1-20 years. I personally sat w...
Read more

Three lives, connected by a divine thread

My kids say it should be a book! The Doug, Pat and Mark story is a doozie!   About 25 years ago, while fighting to free Maurice Carter from prison, I read a newspaper column written by Pat Shellenbarger of the Grand Rapids Press on the topic of eyewitness identification. I contacted Pat re that story. That led to a friendship between Doug and Pat that continues to this day.   In subsequent months, Pat would go on to assist me in an investigation into the Maurice Carter case that eventually led to solving the crime.  That particular episode became a chapter in my book about the Carter case, SWEET FREEDOM, published in 2006.   Fast forward to 2009, A New York businessman claims wrongful conviction, and while serving time in a Michigan prison is handed a copy of my book. Mark Hartman, who was also convicted in Berrien County, was amazed at the similarity of these two stories and tried to reach out to me. His letters bounced.   Persisting in his efforts to c...
Read more