~~"Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."
~~"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just (righteous) to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." ---(1 JOHN 1:9) --
---I basted my horn, but not in time to stop a woman from backing into my silver Nissan in the convenience store parking lot. She leaned her curly white head out of her car window. "I'm so sorry, honey," she said, followed by, "My husband is going to kill me!"
I surveyed the damage quickly and determined she had struck my door in almost the same spot as another parking lot driver had recently. I had postponed having it repaired because of some expensive medical tests I'd undergone.
"My car doesn't have a scratch on it," the lady said. "But yours--oh my! And I have a five hundred dollar deductible."
My eyes fell to the cross dangling from the bracelet on my wrist. A gift from my now deceased friend Cathy who taught me about the path of forgiveness. We had been hospital nurses together. Once when I was headed to a board meeting to determine the fate of another employee accused of a minor infraction, Cathy whispered: "To err is human, Jane, to forgive, divine."
Mindful of Cathy's words that day, I listened carefully as the situation was described at the board meeting. The damage was minuscule, the employees repentant. "I vote for a second chance, I said to the board. The others concurred.
Now, I smiled at the lady in the parking lot. " I wouldn't want your husband to kill you, dear. How about if I just give you a clean slate? "
--Thank You, Lord Jesus, for friends who model forgiveness and point me to You. Help me to be a light shining for You in this dark world. In Jesus name.`amen"
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