Photo made on the 19th of May, 2007.

Posted by Deji Osinulu at 12:36 PM | Permalink

Thinking more about the post from yesterday, there was a bit of something that C.S. Lewis wrote in one of his books that kinda kept flitting through my mind. So, I decided to go digging and see if I could find it :-)

Every one says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive, as we had during the war. And then, to mention the subject at all is to be greeted with howls of anger. It is not that people think this too high and difficult a virtue: it is that they think it hateful and contemptible. 'That sort of talk makes them sick,' they say. And half of you already want to ask me, 'I wonder how you'd feel about forgiving the Gestapo if you were a Pole or a Jew?'

So do I. I wonder very much. Just as when Christianity tells me that I must not deny my religion even to save myself from death by torture, I wonder very much what I should do when it came to the point. I am not trying to tell you in this book what I could do - I can do precious little - I am telling you what Christianity is. I did not invent it. And there, right in the middle of it, I find 'Forgive us our sins as we forgive those that sin against us.' There is no slightest suggestion that we are offered forgiveness on any other terms.

From "Mere Christianity" (emphasis mine).

Grace & peace,
Deji.

Posted by Deji Osinulu at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I think a lot of us have gone through the experience when we feel that someone close to us has done something or said something to us that feels like a deep cut. It might feel that hurtful because of what was done, how it was done, why it was done or a combination of all of the above.

We find ourselves in that place where we feel we should be able to forgive what was done/said but also find ourselves with this sense of wanting to feel that we have been wronged and would like to hold on to that grudge or to withhold the grace of forgiveness just a little bit longer. After all, we were the ones on the short end of the stick here.

So I was thinking, while going through something similar not too long ago - Why this reluctance to forgive? Could it be that once I let go of the grudge that I feel, then I might have to face my own flaws in that situation? You see, as long as I hold on to the grudge, that other person is the "bad guy" and I don't even have to deal with anything that might have been a shortcoming on my part.

Or is it that in order to be able to forgive and let go I first have to take a look at and recognize my own shortcomings? That when I do this, I am then able to "love my neighbor as myself". That I see that I am just as flawed as they are and yet able to think that on the whole I am not a bad person.

So which comes first - the humility to recognize my own fault; or the practice of grace & forgiveness? :-)

Grace & Peace,

Deji.

Posted by Deji Osinulu at 9:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Photo made on the 8th of May, 2007.

Posted by Deji Osinulu at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

... also known as a "rollback" :-)

Back to the "old" version and will resume posts shortly. Happy clicking! :-)

Posted by Deji Osinulu at 9:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)