Article June 26, 1995 Issue

Finding freedom through forgiveness

Barbara Beth Whitewater

A Woman had been divorced for many years, but she still seemed to suffer much emotional pain from the memory of the actions of her ex-husband. To make matters worse, some of his present behavior was causing their son difficulty as well.

During this time, the woman often pondered the Bible story of Lot and his wife (see Gen., chap. 19). Lot was told by an angel to take his family and flee Sodom and Gomorrah since those cities were to be destroyed. The angel told Lot that they were not to look back over their shoulders at the destruction. Lot's wife did look back and was turned into a pillar of salt. Considering what the lesson might be for her in this story, the woman felt it told her you can't go forward if you keep looking back, fascinated by some mess.

She also thought of words from Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy: "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick. Thus Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is intact, universal, and that man is pure and holy" (pp. 476–477). How, she wondered, could she see the perfect man as Christ Jesus did? She remembered a Bible story that tells of Jesus' healing of ten lepers (see Luke 17:12–19). It was believed, in Biblical times, that leprosy was sometimes a punishment for sin. But Jesus never taught that. He knew that God never created man to sin or suffer. And this mistaken view of man could be replaced by the truth of man's eternal and inherent innocence.

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