9/11 and forgiveness
I want to tell you a story. After the World Trade Center tragedy, when the site was safe enough to visit, the Greek Archbishop of New York and the parish priest of St. Nicholas Church went to see what they could salvage from the church. St. Nicholas Church had been across the road and became a pile of rubble. They found a partly burned bible and a partly burned prayer book. To their amazement they also found a small paper icon that had been in a wooden and glass frame resting on the top of the pile. It depicted St. Dionysius of Zakinthos - a saint I had never heard of. So I decided to try to find out why God should leave that particular saint where only he could be found. You can find the whole story of his life on the net. I'm only going to tell you the forgiveness part.
St. Dionysius had established a monastry on the island of Zakinthos where he was the Abbot. One night, a man came to the monastery gates yelling and banging on the door. The monk doorman told him to be quiet but the man banged all the harder. St Dionysius came out to see what was the matter. The man said he needed to make his confession right away. So The Abbot calmly and seriously led him over to the church. They stood before the icons and the Abbot heard his confession and absolved him. Then there came another clatter at the door of the monastery. Again, the Abbot went to see what was the matter. The crowd asked if he had seen a murderer. The Abbot soberly pointed up the road and said they might find him up there. Then, he went back to the man waiting in the church. The abbot found him some old clothes and a small boat and told him to go far far away. That man's confession was that he had murdered the Abbot's own brother. Now St. Dionysius had the choice to see that man as forgiven by God completely and therefore free or see to civil justice demands that he hand over the murder.
Some people say this a story of repentance and it is. But for me, it is a story about taking good spiritual care of your own soul. The question that came to my mind was, how does one grow the tree of forgiveness in the garden of one's soul to be strong and full of fruit so ripe it can be handed out so easily and with such great love?
Jesus came as man and God to give the free gifts of forgiveness and reconcilation to us for us to give away just as freely.........For me, It takes a long time and lost of practice.....Gardening in my soul, I weed out the smallest choking vines before they can do me any harm, the thorny shrubs before they can grow into bushes, pull up the weeds of jealousy, envy, anger, bitterness and hatred. It doesn't say anywhere in the Bible that anyone has the right NOT to be sinned against. Some of us got more some got less, but since we have been sinned against , we have the responsibility, when we are ready, with God's help to wash that sin against us away.
