From Forward Day by Day
Psalm 126:7 Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.
As I write these words, the news has just delivered word of the latest in a heartbreaking series of race-based hate crimes, with several people dead at the hand of an angry gunman. The United States and much of the developed world is increasingly divided along lines of economic disparity and race. The poor and the victims of racial discrimination continue to suffer an undue burden, while life is pretty comfortable for well-off people like me.
The daughter of one of the victims of this latest attack was quoted in the media, speaking words to the killer, “You hurt me. You hurt a lot of people, but God forgives you, and I forgive you.” Words like these are humbling and inspiring, and perhaps they also indict my own difficulty forgiving others at times. I pray that one day all those who weep today will come again with joy. Somehow, I think the daughter who forgives is already on the way to shouldering her sheaves. Only by God’s grace can we forgive such evil.
