The Power of remembrance

My thought for the day article for the Rutherglen Reformer

Lately I have been struck by the power of remembrance.  A few weeks ago myself and my wife interviewed and videoed a lady in our church about her experiences as an evacuee during the war. It was for my wife’s class who are studying the Second World War; and the video of this lady taking captivated and enthralled a normally lively and boisterous primary 7’s into a still and quiet fascination with her story. It was the power of a living memory, bringing to life a world the children could never experience for themselves.  Normally fidgeting and chatting, they listened quietly and intently.

Stories of our past can have that affect on us. It can teach us not only what life was like many years ago, but also inform the present and shape the way we live and behave. Remembrance is powerful.

In the bible there is a little known story about King David. He eventually defeated his rival for the throne, Saul and at that time there was a bitter and savage war between the two kings for power. In these days it was necessary to exterminate the family and followers of the family of your enemy in order to achieve peace.

Saul’s grandson Mephibosheth was found to be alive. He was a in a sorry state. As a cripple he pose no threat to David as a solider, but normally David securing victory he would have been expected to hunt him down and have him executed.

But David remembered that although his Grandfather was his bitter enemy, his father was a man called Jonathon a great friend of David, whom he loved like a brother. Instead of stripping of the very little he had, David spared Mephibosheth and restored him and let him live in the royal palace and eat at the Kings table. It was because he saw beyond an enemy and remembered Jonathon, David turned convention on its head and showed mercy and kindness  to a cripple.

Remembrance is powerful, but it’s real power lies in what we do with it. Do we harbour grudges with enemies, being hard and cold. Or do we, as David did, open our heart and mind to the new possibilities of living in harmony with former enemies. Being open to forgive and forget. The  question remains for us. What do we do with our memories? Are they full of things that are bitter and eat away at our souls, or do we see them as new opportunities to move on and enjoy the richness of life that forgiveness brings?

Who’s sorry now?

“Sorry seems to be the hardest word” so goes the song. Not unless, it seems, if you are a MP. Recently our papers have had stories about abuses of the expenses system at Westminster usually accompanied by a shame faced picture of an MP apologising for some aspect of their expenses. We’ve had apologies from all three leaders of the main parties about the alleged abuses of expenses, but it seems that the system which is widely regarded as bad has been in existence for years and its is only within the last fortnight abuses of the expenses scheme has come to light. It leaves the question hanging, are those who have been caught out sorry because of what they have done, or are they sorry because they have been caught?
However for a lot of us saying sorry is very hard. Accepting responsibility in the blame culture that exists in Britain is something we are not encouraged to do. But acknowledging our faults and failures can lead to most extraordinary results. I read recently of an elderly black woman in South Africa whose husband and son had been involved in the struggle against apartheid and had been murdered. Years later at the truth and reconciliation commission she heard how a white police officer had been responsible for their deaths, and had decided to accept his guilt and ask for forgiveness. He had beaten the two men to death and then had burned their bodies to make them disappear.
The woman sat impassively and listened carefully to the police officers confession and expression of remorse. At the end of the hearing the presiding judge asked if the woman wanted anything. She asked for three things. To know the location of where the ashes of her husband and son were buried, for the policeman to come and visit her and in her words “be her son”. The third thing she wanted was for someone to help her across the room so that she could embrace the policeman and tell him that she forgave him and God would forgive him. Her friends in the court room spontaneously began to sing Amazing Grace as she was helped towards the man who murdered her family but now was her son.
A simple heartfelt sorry is perhaps amongst the most powerful words in the English language. It is often the beginning of the healing process. It is the start of restoring broken relationships.
It is in God’s nature to forgive us, but if we are true to ourselves we know how hard forgiving others can be. But receiving or offering an apology makes it easier to take that road that enhances our lives; and is there a challenge in the story of that woman? If she can respond with forgiveness to that man’s apology is there some relationship we need to mend, a sorry to be said? Ultimately it is not an admission of weakness rather an expression of hope and a new beginning.