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Had a great time at mass last night, which I know might sound pretty nerdy and weird. But father last night talked about the idea of how Christians are supposed to turn the other cheek and forgive. He talked about how this is really a countercultural idea.
But his explanation was pretty interesting. The two big things that we need to learn as Christians, is to forgive into also, accept the bad things that happen to us in our lives.
As far as forgiving, when we decide to hold on negative feelings toward someone who has wronged us it robs us of our happiness. I can't tell you how many times I have seen one of my children get upset because one of their siblings has hurt them, and then they turn around and allow that negative action to hold them in an unhappy place. In conjunction with that they have a tendency to share that unhappiness with others and many times it is passed on to others by "getting even" with everyone else. I wish that I could say that this was limited to children but as I watch adults around me to those "professionals" in cable news and politics it seems to regularly be the same. Jesus encourages us to forgive so that we can heal. So that our happiness and love will not be taken away. He wants our relationships to mend because we're stuck on this planet together and we need each other to make things work. We need to love each other if we are going to help each other get through life and conquer evil in our lives so that we can get to our true life waiting for us in heaven.
As far as forgiving, when we decide to hold on negative feelings toward someone who has wronged us it robs us of our happiness. I can't tell you how many times I have seen one of my children get upset because one of their siblings has hurt them, and then they turn around and allow that negative action to hold them in an unhappy place. In conjunction with that they have a tendency to share that unhappiness with others and many times it is passed on to others by "getting even" with everyone else. I wish that I could say that this was limited to children but as I watch adults around me to those "professionals" in cable news and politics it seems to regularly be the same. Jesus encourages us to forgive so that we can heal. So that our happiness and love will not be taken away. He wants our relationships to mend because we're stuck on this planet together and we need each other to make things work. We need to love each other if we are going to help each other get through life and conquer evil in our lives so that we can get to our true life waiting for us in heaven.
As for accepting the wrongs that have entered our lives, well that's just as hard. The world tells us to get justice, to get even. Fact is though no matter how much "justice" I get, it won't change the fact that something bad has happened to me. Someone spills coffee on me, okay, spills it on my favorite outfit when I have an important date, grrr okay. Get a flat tire because I had to swerve out of the way of someone and ran over a sharp piece of trash in the road, unacceptable an now I am running late. Finally get to the doctor and find out I have cancer, what?!?!?!?!? and my life is totally blown. No matter what we do we can't change the past. We can't change what is done to/for us. BUT, we can CHOOSE to love in every situation. When we choose to love in difficult times we have a better chance of sharing love with all we meet, and let's face it, this world needs love way more than anger and hate right now. The things that God allows to happen in our lives are there to help us become better, stronger and a more loving person. I know that's counter to what many think. Many think that if God loves us then he will protect us from the bad stuff. That's true but not in the way we think. God protects us from the bad stuff that will condemn us to hell. Cause really this life is temporary, the real deal is heaven. This life is kinda like training, a pilgrimage. The catch is we have to believe in God and we have to follow his way. We live in an age when even many Christians polled will say that they don't believe in God. That's the catch. That's the starting point. We have to go toe to toe with God and decide if we believe in him, and that starts with a conversation with him. We have to open our eye, ears, mind and heart (most importantly) to God and hear his case. This can be hard because again God often runs counter cultural to the world, because after all the world is often run by evil, the Devil. But if we can open out hearts to his love and follow it we will find a peace and love unparalleled. Then the next step is to share that love with those who do evil to us, forgive them and accept the bad things that they have done/do.
I'll finish with a story that father told last night. There was a family who's father/husband was killed by another man. Riding in the car the little boy asked his mother if the man who killed their father/husband would be allowed into heaven. After a long pause the mother explained that if the killer asked for forgiveness and turned his life over to God then yes, he would be allowed into heaven. The little boy replied by saying that if that was the case then he didn't want to go to heaven for he wouldn't want to be in the same place as the man that killed his father. The mother explained though, that if the killer asked for forgiveness and turned his life over to God then he wouldn't be the same person anymore. He would be someone new, someone different.
Each moment of each day we have the opportunity to be someone new, someone different. We can choose to love or we can hate. We can hold on to pain or let it go. We can choose to be happy or sad. It's not always easy. It's not always fair, but their can always be God's love in our life if we choose to allow it. The choice is ours.
Thank you Fr. Dong
And if you read this far, thank you, and please go out and love today, and that's all I got to say about that.
