Grieving, Forgiving, Living

i got a link from the Pepplers to a video of Steven Curtis Chapman's interview with Good Morning America [warning: the video is definitely an emotional one].

The subheading of the piece is "Grieving, Forgiving, Living," which stuck out to me. It's the process we're called to when we've been wronged or hurt or mislead. Grief in the loss we've encountered, forgiveness towards the person who caused it, and life which comes as a result of the burden being lifted off of us.

Forgiveness is a tricky thing, and yet, it's everything. We ask God to "forgive us our trespasses [debt, sins] as we forgive those who trespass against us." In as much as we forgive others, forgive us. A lot of times we don't see it that way. With the way it's written, we look at Christ's forgiveness of us, then the fact that we forgive others. Maybe it's because we have to accept Christ's forgiveness in order to understand the importance of forgiving others, or maybe it's a faith before works issue; we're forgiven because we're loved, not because we forgive others.

I find myself wrestling with forgiveness in certain instances because the grief can be so strong. I see it with my students, too. Maybe it's because we forget about life after forgiveness, or maybe it's because we never truly forgive. And maybe I'm just babbling, which is possible. I just know there have been times where I've truly forgiven someone and then the situation comes to mind and I find myself grieving again and starting the process all over. It was interesting what SCC's wife said; she commented on how, as a mother, all she wanted was her daughter back, but because she knew it wasn't going to happen, she had to look at life where she was at- her kids, her husband, her faith- and respond to them with love. She had to live out the situation and be relational rather than isolated in her pain. I think that's huge, and definitely worth noting. She mentioned something about "how can this story change others' faith?" and she said those stories would come and bring light to the situation, but she still battles the mother inside of her.

the chapman story is definitely one for the books when it comes to grace and love and forgiveness. i recommend the video; it's really interesting.