A few days ago I spent some time on an Away-Day with the
leaders of one of the churches of which I am Minister. We had a number of aims for the day, including the desire to get to
know each other a little better, and one of the ways I tried to help us to that
end was to devise a few questions. As an
example, a question I asked was, “Which character from history would you most
like to meet?” Several interesting
answers were given, including Lady Diana, Mother Teresa, Florence
Nightingale and General Custer. My own choice was Nelson
Mandela.
Mandela is widely regarded as one of the outstanding characters
of the 20th century, and was certainly a remarkable man. What really stands out to me about Nelson
Mandela, and an area which I would love to talk to him about, was the fact that,
despite having served 27 years in jail for standing up against the brutal and oppressive
apartheid regime in South Africa, he was willing and able to show such grace
and forgiveness on his release. These
are his words:
“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom,
I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in
prison.”
Nelson Mandela realised that when a person harbours
bitterness and unforgiveness in their hearts, it is almost always they who
suffer most, for bitterness is like a cancer eating away inside us. A much more recent outpouring of remarkable
forgiveness came only last week, when a lone gunman shot and killed 9 people in
a prayer meeting at a Methodist Church in Charleston, USA. A number of the grieving families have
offered words of forgiveness to the man accused of the killings, and have
pledged to pray for him. Despite their
own desperate pain, they are reaching out with grace and forgiveness.
How many of the world’s problems today would be
eradicated if humankind learned to forgive instead of retaliating and seeking a
“tit-for-tat” response? We have much to
learn from people like Nelson Mandela and the Charleston families. And as Martin Luther King Jr. said,
“Forgiveness is not
an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.”
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