Summer Scenes

The scriptures this Sunday about the cost of discipleship remind me of the Anglican theologian John Stott’s statement that speaks for all of us when he says that if it were not for the cross, he would not believe in God:

In the real world of real pain, how could one worship a God whowas immune to it? Rather than gaze on a serene Buddha, legscrossed, arms folded, detached from the agonies of this world,I have always turned instead to look at that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross. That is the God who laid asideimmunity to pain to enter into our world of flesh and blood,tears and death. When I look upon him, I know and I believeI am loved, healed, forgiven and delivered.

Speaking of forgiveness, I ran into the latest book by William Bausch. In one of his reflections, he speaks of the Ten Commandments of Forgiveness:

1. Forgiveness is not easy.
2. Forgiveness is not forgetting.
3. Forgiveness does not overlook evil.
4. Forgiveness is not indifference.
5. Forgiveness is not the same thing as approval.
6. Forgiveness recognizes that people are always bigger than their faults.
7. Forgiveness allows a person to start all over again.
8. Forgiveness recognizes the humanity of the wrongdoer.
9. Forgiveness surrenders the right to get even.
10. Forgiveness wishes the offender well.Forgiveness is the gift that we actually give to ourselves.

May everyone enjoy the Labor Day weekend. Party sensibly and drive safely!