Article November 9, 2015 Issue

Learning to forgive

Japhet Tekila

This article was originally written in French and has been adapted for the Sentinel. It first appeared as a testimony in the October 2015 French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish editions of The Herald of Christian Science.

We read in the Bible that when Jesus was arrested, Simon Peter, who was present and had a sword, drew it and cut off the ear of Malchus, the servant of the high priest. Then Jesus said to Peter, “Put up thy sword into the sheath” (see John 18:1–11). Luke’s Gospel says that Jesus, touching the man’s ear, healed it (see 22:51). This represents for me a deep lesson in love and forgiveness that everyone can practice individually and daily. I really became aware of the power of this lesson three years ago, when something happened at my university.

In August of 2012, as I was taking an exam, one of the associate deans of the school came in. Immediately he walked toward me and scolded me for having my schoolbag next to me while the exam was already in session. I told him that I’d kept it with me inadvertently. As I was getting up to move it away, he considered that the presence of my bag proved that I was cheating, although it was tightly closed. Then he grabbed my test sheet and wrote on it in red letters “Cheater.” I protested very strongly in front of all the students. I was very angry with him that day!

A few minutes later, as required by the rules of the university, my side of the story was heard by the police officer on duty at the school, and my interrogation was recorded. I told him exactly what had happened. However, the officer thought he would help me by advising me to admit that I had cheated. Then he would be able to plead my case with the associate dean. I refused emphatically since I had not cheated, and considered this request inappropriate.

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