Remembering

Last night was a good night of remembering as I heard my good friends from my community of faith and a sister-group share about our journeys so far on the path to love people and honor God.  It reminded me most of all about how much we can forget if we’re not careful.

So when I read a portion of Matthew this morning it came with a sense of freshness for me. A follower of Jesus asks him. How many times do I have to forgive people? Can I forgive them seven times and just be done with trying to live alongside them if that doesn’t work out? Jesus’ answer as shared in the Message translation was, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.” In other words, there was always room for forgiveness. I looked at those words this morning that I’ve read literally hundreds of times and I wonder how often I practice forgiveness in that way.

The reality is that Jesus always set a high bar for love, forgiveness and life. He wasn’t into just singing some happy songs and tolerating other people. He would say difficult things and move people to action on behalf of the hurting. The problem is that too often we still try to say that the other people “over there” have the problem and not us.  It’s time to remember again that when we hear hard words they are for us…  for me… first.