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Email a FriendPosted by Shelly @ Sound Mind and Spirit on Tuesday, Mar 9, 2010 5:33 PM (EDT):
Beautiful.
Seventy-Seven Times
On brotherly forgiveness
Posted by Lisa Hendey in Faith on Tuesday, March 09, 2010 2:00 PM
We read that we ought to forgive our enemies; but we do not read that we ought to forgive our friends. Francis Bacon
The scene played itself out this morning as it does about four times per week. The younger brother, anxious to get out the door to school early so he could have time with his friends. The older brother—the chauffeur—nursing a bad case of “senioritis” and wanting to eek out every last minute at home. The mother, sitting at the table waiting to have quiet prayer time before dispatching her young men for the day. The tension, the testosterone, the raw emotion…
And then, it was time to sit quietly for those few moments of prayer time, to hear the daily gospel proclaimed and to ponder it silently for a few moments. The younger brother began to read, his voice shaking a bit as he attempted to keep his cool (likely for the sake of his mother).
Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
His eyes met the mother’s, and then the older brother’s, a glimmer of recognition passing through them. “Was this a set up?” the eyes asked. But he knew it wasn’t—reading the gospel for the day had become a part of the morning ritual.
The mother listened to the reading, prayed quietly in her heart for the warring factions, and resisted the temptation to pontificate upon the irony of the day’s gospel. As the morning prayer time ended, instead she kissed both gently, wished them wonderful days, and sent them on their way. The tension noticeably lessened - they weren’t ready to sing Kumbaya together, but they would likely survive another morning drive to school.
As the sound of the garage door closing signaled their physical distancing from her, she prayed again for the safety.
And then, with a smile, she thanked God for the perfect gift of His word in scripture.
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