Seventy Times Seven

Lately forgiveness has been at the forefront of my mind. Ever since returning home for my grandfather’s funeral, I’ve been contemplating the idea of being able to forgive others who have committed a grave injustice (or injustices) to someone else. I’m not referring to everyday issues like lying or gossiping about someone else, I’m talking about serious, life altering acts.

Two people have stood up in the face of grave injustices, and did the unthinkable…forgive wildly. They had no regard for if the person asked for forgiveness or for how big the offence. I was greatly inspired to forgive like these people did:

Nelson Mandela recently released a statement regarding the death of the former South African president, P.W. Botha. In the statement, Mandela spoke highly of Botha, focusing on the few high points in his life. During his presidency, Botha worked toward keeping South Africa separated by race and was largely responsible for the continual imprisonment of Mandela. Botha was guilty of gross human rights violations. Thousands were detained without trial during his presidency, while others were tortured and killed. However, during his life, he refused to apologize for apartheid. Despite all of this, Mandela forgave Botha, and his statement showed this. What an amazing man to be able to forgive someone else guilty of such a huge injustice.

Following the murder of five children and the severely injuring of five others in an Amish schoolhouse, the families of the victims poured out their forgiveness upon the shooter (who had turned the gun on himself) and on his family. Only days after the shootings, the Amish families visited and spent time with the family of the shooter. Following this, the Pennsylvania Amish community not only forgave the shooter and his family, they literally begged the rest of the world to do the same. This type of forgiveness is far beyond my comprehension.

How far can forgiveness go? Does God really ask us to forgive things that seem unforgivable? And if so, how can I do that?