Wednesday, 22 October 2008

A Practical Benefit of Forgiveness


A former inmate of a Nazi concentration camp was visiting a friend who had shared the ordeal with him.

"Have you forgiven the Nazis?" he asked his friend.

"Yes."

"Well, I haven't. I'm still consumed with hatred for them."

"In that case," said his friend gently, "they still have you in prison." (From Anthony de Mello)

I remember reading of a Mengele twin who said that if she met Mengele she would forgive him. Why? Because otherwise she let's him control her life. She forgives for herself, and is an extraordinary freedom - the freedom to forgive when the trespass is unforgivable.

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