FORGIVENESS CAN BE LIKE SUNSHINE

By Audrey Carli

Splash! Muddy water splattered my ankles as I walked with friends toward our picnic site.

I gasped, seeing my streaked ankles.

“I’m sorry!” the boy about age six said as he tried to wipe away the mud. “It was an accident!’
He gazed at me with sad brown eyes and I patted his head. “It’s OK. You didn’t see me near you.”

Minutes later, I wiped away the smears at my friend’s home.

I recalled my grandmother’s words to us children: “It is important to forgive others’ mistakes. Someone might hurt your feelings but apologizes. If you don’t forgive that person, you could lose a friend or family member. What a loss!”

She also said, “Staying angry is like poison inside us. God teaches us to forgive others as He has forgiven us.”

I remembered a friend saying it wasn’t easy to forgive when feeling hurt. She said that the hurt might be so intense that a person feels unable to say, “I forgive.”

Jesus’ words were on Grandma’s bulletin board: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14-15

I later witnessed a scene while visiting a hospitalized friend. The woman in the other bed asked if I would phone someone for her. She gave me the phone number. “Please tell Sal that I, Ellen, am sorry for our quarrel. I forgive and hope she’ll forgive me.”

Sal sounded relieved with my message. “I’ll visit Ellen this evening. I’m glad our friendship’s OK again!”

Later, Ellen told me, “I had to nearly die before I realized how fragile life can be. We all make mistakes. Quarrels can be mended with forgiveness.”

Tom and Mark worked in the same business office. Each hoped for the one new position. Tom was sure he deserved it and felt angry when Mark was given that job. Tom confided to three of us in the cafeteria that he felt depressed. He had more experience and had been sure he would get the job.

We all urged Tom not to quit his job. “Try to overcome your hurt, Tom.”

Soon after that there was a problem with the copy machine. Mark looked frustrated because he needed copies right away.

Tom had experience with making the machine work when the problem hit. So he helped Mark.

The cooperation ended with the two men shaking hands. Their estrangement had been mended with forgiveness—and harmony at the workplace was restored.

Tom’s talents were soon recognized when he got the next promotion that was available.

It appears that forgiveness is like sunshine that creates smiles. Forgiveness soothes hurting emotions. Forgiveness helps produce tranquility rather than stress from broken relationships.

Audrey Carli writes from Iron River, Michigan.