When the first missionaries came to Alberta, Canada, they were savagely opposed by a young chief of the Cree Indians named Maskepetoon. But the chief responded to the gospel and was baptized.
Shortly afterward, a member of the Blackfoot tribe killed his father. Maskepetoon rode into the village where the murderer lived and demanded that he be brought before him.
Confronting the guilty man, he said, “You have killed my father, so now you must be my father. You shall ride my best horse and wear my best clothes.”
In utter amazement and remorse his enemy exclaimed, “My son, now you have killed me!”
He meant, of course, that the hate in his own heart had been completely killed and erased by the forgiveness of the Indian chief. This is what it takes to set our world straight. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth solves nothing in the long run.
To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was YOU.
How have YOU felt like a prisoner because YOU would not forgive another person?
In my new book – THE GATHERING – Jesus goes about forgiving others in our world today. Do enjoy reading THE GATHERING by Medard Laz
