WE CAN BE THE FLOWER IN THE GUN

 




“To forgive is to set a prisoner free,

and discover, that the prisoner was you.”

Lewis B. Smedes

 

The reward of forgiveness is freedom!

The meaning of this statement can be grasped by only those who value and cherish freedom…

I am not talking about the freedom of a nation or a community, or even an individual, from the bondage of a tyrant or a suppressor… I am talking about the freedom from the ‘bondage by self-tyranny’… the holding on to our wounds, unwilling to let go of the grudges. Trust me, many of us – like the Shylock from the ‘Merchant of Venice’ – are hellbent in getting our ‘pound of flesh’… We are blood-thirsty!

Am I dramatizing it?

Forgiveness doesn’t come to me easily, too. I hold on to my wounds till I find it too difficult to hold on… till I am able to ‘see’ the futility of holding on. 

Holding on to our wounds makes the wounds bleed even more… leave alone help them heal.

Somewhere, along our journey through this life, we all need to learn, that when we keep a grudge on someone, what we are actually doing is akin to drinking poison and expecting him to die!

Our hearts need to be trained  -  to forgive. The early that happens, the longer we can enjoy the ‘freedom’…

The weight of bearing the grudges is too heavy a weight to carry for our hearts!

‘USA Today’ and 'A & E' bring to us many stories of forgiveness and healing.

Here are two such stories which I came across today:





    

Just look at the number of comments below these videos… and read the impact the one act of these strong parents have left… Look,  how many people are simply touched by it!




I loved the lyrics of this powerful song of healing: ‘We can be the flower in the gun’! What a powerful statement!

I hadn’t blogged a word for nearly two months. The act of forgiveness of these parents moved me to come out of my own ‘little pain’… “Life lies ahead… Go, kiss it,” I heard the compelling voice in my bosoms!

As I said at the outset, the reward of forgiveness is freedom… the freedom from the self-bondage caused by our unwillingness to let go our grudges.

The only way the wounds of our hearts can get healed is through forgiveness…

 

GERALD D’CUNHA


Pic.: pixabay

Videos: 1 & 3 USA TODAY. 

             2 A & E 

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