BOUND TO FORGIVE

[roney]

Writer Norman Cousins said that life is an adventure in forgiveness. I
think Fr. Lawrence Martin Jenco would agree. In 1984, Fr. Jenco
traveled to Beirut, dedicated to help the poorest of the poor. On
January 8, 1985, he was kidnapped by Shiite Muslim extremists and held
hostage for 564 days. He endured imprisonment, beatings, illness and
heartbreaking periods of sorrow and loneliness. Several years after his
release, he wrote a book (BOUND TO FORGIVE, Ave Maria Press, 1995)
about his experiences in captivity and, more importantly, about the
power of love and forgiveness.

Fr. Jenco tells about being taped like a mummy from his ankles to the
top of his head each time he was transported from one place to another.
He described being forced to breathe only from his nose as his mouth
was stuffed with a cloth and taped shut. He tells of times when his
captors said they were going to kill him and he waited for the bullet
to go through his head. Other times he was dressed up and told he was
going home, only to have his spirits dashed when he was later informed
they were just kidding. He remembers being chained hand and foot,
donning a plastic bag on his head, and left in a two-foot by six-foot
closet. And he remembers his stench when he was denied washing for over
four months.

He was later asked what lesson those of us who haven't been in such a
position can learn from his experience and apply to our daily living.
He said, "Just look at the madness that goes on in the world today. We
lug our hates and our bigotry and prejudices from generation to
generation and we pass [them] on.... We [must] stop and look at each
other and say, 'I am so sorry for the hurt I caused you. I ask your
forgiveness.' And then [we must] extend forgiveness and...receive
forgiveness. Somewhere along the line we are going to have to do that.
We're all bound to forgive." Fr. Jenco has forgiven and can attest to
the power of forgiveness. And though our hurt may not be the same as
his, it is no less real. We, too, are "bound" to forgive. For when we
covenant with life to earnestly forgive whatever hurts come our
way, we see amazing results. We find inner peace and, often,
improved physical health as well. As Dr. O. A. Battista says,
"One of the most lasting pleasures you can experience is the
feeling that comes over you when you genuinely forgive an
enemy -- whether he knows it or not."

Genuine forgiveness is crucial if we are to be at peace. Whether or not
it restores a broken relationship, it sets our own hearts free. Those
who will be bound by the promise to sincerely forgive, will be freed
from the bonds of the past. Bound by love, they are bound...to be
happy.

© 2001 Steve Goodier
P.S. Forgiveness feels pain but doesn't hoard it; it allows tomorrow to
break free of yesterday. It is always hard, sometimes foolish, and at
its heart, God-like. ~ Rob Parsons

[Lilli]

Wish i was that righteous. It would take me a long time to forgive that.
Well the Lord isnt done with me yet......
~Lilli~
_________________

I pass to you the torch that Christ once passed to me.
Others are still in the dark and need
the light to see.
"I AM"
"Gathering the fragments so that
none are lost"
His Shepherdess
http://missouri.thcministry.org/