Article May 24, 1999 Issue

"I will love if another hates"

Prayers for Littleton, Colorado, continue.

By Barbara Beth Whitewater

A YOUNG MAN CAME to my home to do some maintenance work. When my cats came to investigate, he began talking about his pets, and then about his family. I could tell from his conversation that he was a tender father to his toddler son. Soon we were speaking about spiritual things and then about forgiveness.

He said that he didn't think people were worthy of forgiveness unless they asked for it. As a case in point, he said that, years earlier, a foster parent had been abusive to him. Because that individual had not been repentant, the young man felt unable to forgive. I responded that I thought he had, indeed, forgiven this foster parent by not allowing that person's cruelty to keep him from being a gentle parent. He had broken the cycle of abuse; love had ruled over hate. That was forgiveness in action.

Later that evening, as I thought about our exchange, I realized that although many people in my life have been less than kind to me, I have not been deprived of the desire or the ability to love. God, divine Love, has spoken louder than any thought or behavior that would suggest the absence of Love.

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Tact or love?
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