Thought for 28th February

Matthew 6:14-15

If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.  

But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.  

While listening to the radio this morning, the benefits of forgiveness was being discussed and the following story was included as an example. 

The Brighton hotel bombing occurred on October 12, 1984, during the Conservative Party conference at the Grand Hotel in Brighton.  The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) attempted to assassinate members of the British government, including Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet.  A bomb was planted in the hotel which exploded during the night killing five people and injuring many more.  Patrick Magee was convicted of this crime and served 14 years in prison until he was pardoned under the Good Friday agreement.  

Joanna Cynthia Berry (born 1957) is a British peace activist and public speaker. She is the daughter of the Hon. Sir Anthony Berry, who was one of the people that perished in this bombing.  Through her mother’s side of the family, she is first cousin to Diana, Princess of Wales.  She has appeared together with Patrick Magee on over 300 occasions, most recently in Rwanda, Lebanon and Israel and Palestine as well as locally in Belfast.

Before her first meeting with the man who was a member of the movement that killed her father, she said there was a part of her that was saying she shouldn’t be talking to this man.  There was always going to be conflict between the side that wanted to talk about reconciliation and the side that felt that it would be nothing short of a betrayal.  Eventually, she felt that meeting Patrick has put a human face on this conflict.  She could now see men like him as people with their own struggles, no longer as a faceless enemy, and that helped her.  She believed that it was quite a struggle for Patrick to see her and her dad as real people rather than as justified targets. The lessons she has been learning are now part of her work in demonstrating the power of empathy, how we cannot choose revenge and blame. Above all she is working for a world where no one is demonised, where everyone has their truth and ways can be found to resolve conflict so everyone can win. 

Before today, I had never heard this story and I found it really eye-opening.  When I think of forgiving folks with whom I’ve had some conflict in the past, the causes pale into insignificance compared to what this women has gone through.  My first thought was; if someone had killed my father, is there any way I could possibly forgive them and my answer was not a positive one.

I believe it must have been incredibly difficult for this woman to be in the same room as the man who killed her father but somehow, she overcame that feeling.  She showed this man empathy and I believe that must have left him dumb-struck, but from that point on, a relationship developed that would work for the good of others and by and by sharing a stage together, they were able to demonstrate to other areas of conflict in the world that a solution to any problem is possible.

Throughout the scriptures, we are told that forgiveness is something we all need to get better at if we expect God to be forgiving towards us.  When we think that this is just not possible, think of what this lady achieved and think about Luke 23:34 when as our Lord was being crucified,  he spoke to his heavenly Father saying; ‘Father, forgive these people because they don’t know what they are doing’. 

Good things follow an act of forgiveness.

Prayer - Heavenly Father, please forgive us when we allow anger and bitterness to fill our hearts because we refuse to forgive someone who has hurt us and help us to be better than this by following your example.  Amen.