A BIBLE MOMENT: On the other side of forgiveness, there is a blessing

by The Village Parson

I also count all things lost, for the excellence of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, my lord.

There was a Texas billionaire whose daughter attended a youth group at a local church. As was their customer, they met at each persons house and it was her turn that week. The father decided to give everyone a tour of his mansion and as he was ending a boy asked what was in the room they hadn’t shown.

The father said that he had a fascination with snakes, and there was a swimming pool filled with them. As they approached the pool he comically stated that if anyone wanted to swim across the good sized pool, he would give them the hand of his daughter in marriage or half his estate. No sooner had he finished they heard a splash, to find a young man swimming for all he was worth. The stunned group gathered at the other side and as the young man finished, they fished him out. At once they crowded around him, to find out his decision. At that point, he shrieked “keep everything, who pushed me in?”

The moral being on the other side of forgiveness, there is a blessing, the peace that surpasses all understanding.

In contract, it was June 8, 1971, when Nick Ut snapped a photo of a nine-year-old girl running naked out of a Vietnam village that had been napalmed. The photo gripped the entire nation, capturing the horrors of war. The photo went viral, and contributed to bringing about the end of the war.

The photo also affected the mastermind of the bombing, and he was convicted to the core of the realty of the suffering he caused. Upon discharge from the military, he couldn’t shake off the guilt of the tragedy. He ended up divorcing his wife, and began a search for the peace he had lost. He ended up searching for the little girl, to ask forgiveness for what he had done.

Meanwhile, Kim Phuc, the child in the photo had grown up, fled to Canada, and has accepted Jesus as her lord and savior. She then became a spokesperson for UNESCO and became the keynote speaker at a military gathering of veterans, in Washington, DC.

He was attending the meeting when he suddenly realized who she was. He decided that was his chance to ask forgiveness from her, and she would be a symbol for the entire village. He then approached the stage, fighting off the security, and fell humble in front of her. Embracing and weeping together, she graciously forgave him, and he went away with the peace that had alluded him. He ended up becoming a pastor in a small town in Virginia.

This brings me to a favorite package in scripture. Those who have been forgiven much, love much. And also forgive us our sins, (as in like manner) as we forgive others.

The views of the author of this column are not necessarily those of The Town Line newspaper, its staff and board of directors.