Reflection

Imagine a bicyclist coasting cautiously down a hill, chastened by the memory of a right-hand turn he made when he was twelve, when he turned into the path of another bicyclist. Though he was unharmed, her bike flipped over, and she sustained a concussion.

A young man now, the bicyclist comes to the bottom of the hill, crosses an intersection, and suddenly a car turns into him. His body slams up against the car and drops onto the pavement.

As he inventories his pain, the motorist, a young Latina woman, appears in his vision. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she keeps repeating.

He interrupts her by reaching up to shake her hand. This gesture, born of shock, precedes words that express his soul, “I’ve made mistakes too. I’m a Christian and I forgive you.” In spite of the pain and the bodily assault, he feels more joy than he has in months. He is glad to be alive, but even more, to absolve someone else of the guilt that still haunts him.

In the moral realm, all of us have given others “soul concussions.” In the confession from the Book of Common Prayer, we pray, “Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.” As we act as ambassadors of God’s forgiveness and grace, we are assured that God forgives us. Indeed, as we forgive, we gain insight into how much forgiveness costs God—and so grow in our understanding of the love of God.

Action (Engage)

How you found a way to love the poor this week? If not, is there something you can do today or over the weekend?