Why Forgive?

If it is true that ‘sorry’ is the hardest word to say, then I would argue that forgiveness is the hardest word to do.

An Illustration

One of those life defining moments occurred for me when I was 18.

It was Remembrance Sunday 1987, and I had only just heard the news about the Enniskillen Bombing (when the IRA had deliberately planted and exploded a significant device at the Cenotaph in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, N. Ireland). Still recoiling from the news, I had gone to the corner shop for something trivial, and then engaged in a fairly vitriolic conversation with the shop owner.

I was awash with various reactions and emotions. Horror, outrage, anger, injustice – you get the picture. Having vented my spleen, I returned in time to catch the next news broadcast, and I was humbled, and rebuked, by the scene which I witnessed.

There was Gordon Wilson, a man who that day, in Enniskillen, had survived the blast from the bomb, but had held his daughter’s hand as she lay dying beneath the rubble, and heard her last words in this life, “I love you, Daddy.”

That same man was sitting in his armchair, in his own living room, speaking to the watching world, and his message was simple – “Forgive them, no retaliation, please forgive them.”

An extraordinary reaction

That I wasn’t the only one overwhelmed and humbled is to put it mildly. This simple broadcast became a world-wide news phenomenon. Every country reported it, and every member of the viewing public watched it.

What fewer people know is that during the next few weeks, every terrorist group in N. Ireland (Republican and Loyalist) all released press statements acknowledging that they had refrained from the usual ‘tit-for-tat’ killings which would have exploded in the aftermath of the Enniskillen bombing – all because of this humble man’s grief-stricken appeal.

How did he do it?

The answer to that is the reason why I was rebuked. Gordon Wilson had a very vibrant Christian faith. I had not been on my own Christian journey that long, but had thought I had gotten the basics off fairly well. This one event showed me just how much I had to learn (and still do).

Each Sunday it is common for most Christian churches to pray the Lord’s Prayer, during the main services, at least once. So every Sunday the vast majority of Christians pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”

For me Gordon Wilson is the most exemplary illustration of what that means. Despite it all, he forgave, and then encouraged forgiveness in others.

In Matthew chapter 5 verse 9, Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers (or ‘peace doers’, the original could mean either or both at the same time), for they will be called children of God.”

Gordon Wilson’s plea for forgiveness created one of those rare moments of peace in the 40+ year’s history of N. Ireland’s troubles. Hatred was overcome.

What is forgiveness?

Forgiveness is an extremely powerful thing. Doing it releases us from all sorts of pent-up rage and bitterness.

Forgiveness of others helps us to understand just how fallible we are, and how much we can hurt others.

Forgiveness of ourselves allows us to accept (in a non-Jungian sense) our faults and flaws, and to begin to overcome them – something that will take the rest of our lives.

Accepting forgiveness from others, for what we have done, teaches us a great deal about who we are, how we behave, and what we still need to work on.

But, above all, as a Christian, I believe the greatest source of forgiveness comes from God – and nothing equals that sense of peace which we have from knowing that God has seen us for what we truly are, accepted us, despite that, and forgiven us for all that we have done, and are doing, and will do.

Forgiveness . . . Well, that’s at the heart of the Christian religion – “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

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Some further articles for you to click through to:

Warning: You Might Have A Soul

What Everyone Ought To Know About Responsibility

4 Ways To Face Your Flaws

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