Here is a sampling of words used in headlines at cnn.com.  “Accused, broke rules, complained, take down, misused.” From headlines at fox.com.  “Dropped, rule of law, resign, affair, turbulence.” From msnbc.com. “Lying. Watchdog.  Defied. Buckling. Cross-examined.”

Each of these major news organization have differing political and philosophical positions, yet they share something in common.  On none of these sites was I able to find words like forgiveness, forgiven, or forgiving among headlines. I believe these words are lacking on the sites because these organizations reflect the zeitgeist of our culture and perhaps humankind more broadly.  

It is human nature to do what we should not do and not do what we should do throughout our lives.  This truth elicits a need for forgiveness, both to forgive and accept forgiveness.

Professor Robert Enright once said, “Unless we begin to embrace forgiveness in our own hearts and communities, humanity’s existence on this planet is at risk.”  Central to the stories in scripture from Genesis through the end of the New Testament is the monumental struggle human beings have with forgiving others and ourselves. While this challenge with forgiveness is nothing new, lack of forgiveness is often at the root of why relationships fail, nations collapse, and why progress in sciences, medicine, peace, economics, and other dimensions of culture are often impeded.  

Over the years there has been a dearth of interest in the subject, although this trend is changing.  There has even been discussion of transforming existing churches into forgiving communities, in which giving and receiving forgiveness becomes the norm.  As Enright states, “In the close interpersonal relationships required in true community, one will encounter interpersonal injustices of one sort of another…the local church can cause pain.”

Said another way, every existing community of faith is imperfect, flawed, and will require people in such communities to tackle issues of forgiveness.  When we fail to do so, I believe, we falter in our walk with Jesus and lose sight of the centrality of the cross.

As I have thought about this, I have decided to spend more time on the subject of forgiveness.  In the months ahead, look for sermons, articles, and adult education opportunities. It is my prayer that we can be a community, not only in which we love God and love people, but that forgiveness will be inherent in all of our relationships.  That we will have the courage and chutzpah to confront issues of forgiveness, and that we will come to understand that whenever two or three are gathered, whether in a home, church, place of employment, or country, forgiveness is requisite to relational, psychological, physical, and spiritual health.  

One take away from this week’s e-letter is that forgiveness is not only a process that takes time and arduous work, but ultimately is all about a choice or decision we make.  As many people studying forgiveness have come to understand, forgiveness can only happen when we choose to forgive despite whether or not the one who hurt us in involved or not.  And perhaps of equal importance, is grasping the truth that until we each fully know how much we need to be forgiven, it will be difficult or impossible to offer forgiveness to the other.

Look for much more on this topic in the weeks ahead.