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A Family Like Mine: Biblical Stories of Love, Loss, and Longing
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Tag Archives: forgiveness
The first last word
Father, forgive them – not yet, Jesus. Give us time. We are in no hurry for new life. Give … Continue reading
Posted in meditation, poetry, prayer
Tagged father forgive them, forgiveness, Seven Last Words
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Year C Christmas 2: he was twelve
Some of you know that shortly before Christmas we suffered a minor break-in here at the church. I came into the office the day before Christmas Eve to find that someone had entered the building by force, and had left … Continue reading
Posted in current events, sermon, story
Tagged forgiveness, he was twelve, Jesus, juvenile
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Year B Proper 21: the hell with it
From this morning’s gospel: If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your … Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged Amy-Jill Levine, eternal punishment, forgiveness, Gehenna, gospel, hell, Jesus, Mark 9:38-50, Richard Holloway
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Maundy Thursday 2015
When I came home, my foot was bleeding from a cut acquired through the wearing of open-toed sandals in a dirty and dangerous city. My mother came into the bathroom where I was going through the tortured motions you have to go through in order to get your own feet under running water and into clean bandages. Without hesitation, my mother took my feet out of my hands, washed them, anointed them with antibiotic ointment, and bandaged them for me. As she worked, she offered from her knees and from her heart her forgiveness, her acceptance, her love; and I found myself doing the same. Neither of us had changed our position, yet love and mercy won, and we were reconciled. Continue reading
Posted in holy days, sermon
Tagged discrimination, family, foot washing, forgiveness, Maundy Thursday
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Ashes and coaldust
Of all the symbols that we use in the Christian year, the ashes of Ash Wednesday might be at once the most unambiguous and the most strange. A wise colleague was recently heard to remark on the popularity of “ashes-to-go” … Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged absolution, Ash Wednesday, ashes to go, childhood, Christmas, forgiveness, God, penitnence
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Year A Proper 19: forgiving
You remember the Joseph story: “Way way back many centuries ago, not long after the Bible began…” Jacob was the grandson of Abraham, and the father of the twelve tribes of Israel – in fact, it was Jacob who was … Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged favouritism, forgiveness, Genesis 50:15-21, Jacob, Joseph, Matthew 18:21-35, parable
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Year A Advent 1: starting in the middle
In the middle of the story, in the middle of the day, when two women are in the middle of a studied silence over the millstone. They are not speaking. One of them is not speaking so hard, she disappears. … Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon preparation
Tagged family, forgiveness, healing, left behind, Matthew 24:36-44, Noah, regret, relationships, resentment, the flood, Year A Advent 1
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Forgive and forget (2)
Last week, I wrote about forgiving and forgetting offences done unto us. This week is all about those who forget what they have done. Does the fact that they do not remember that they have hurt us make it easier … Continue reading
Forgive and forget (1)
I do not think that forgetfulness is necessarily helpful to forgiveness. Of course, neither is holding a grudge; but forgiveness, as part of a loving and generous outlook on relationship, depends upon an honest assessment of where we are together; … Continue reading
Posted in story
Tagged abusive relationships, Countryman, forgetfulness, forgiveness, Hebrews 8:12, Jeremiah 31:34, reconciliation
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To understand all is to forgive all
I understand from various casual sources that this commonplace was most famously recorded, if not coined, by Leo Tolstoy in War and Peace, which I have yet to read: “Tous comprendre, c’est tous pardonner.” There is a reason it has … Continue reading
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