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FORGIVENESS
Some people think forgiveness makes you weak…while others would agree
forgiveness doesn’t make you weak…forgiveness sets you free.
I recently read about a man whose faith in himself never quit
as he spent 30 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit…
Imagine his euphoria, his jubilation….his relief when he finally learned
after 30 years on death row, his conviction was overturned.
After 30 years of heartbreak, of sadness, of frustration, grief and pain…
when he was released he could not wait to walk out in the rain…
For 30 years isolated, cooped up inside his prison cell…it is easy for one to see…
How he needed to feel the rain upon his face to know he was finally free.
When he was asked about the people who put him away…
about the hatred and rancor that had driven them…
He said without a touch of malice…I have long ago forgiven them.
If you wonder why when they took 30 years of his life
he isn’t angry… he isn’t blue….
to this he answers: If I stay angry and unforgiving…
they’ll take the rest of my life too.
To those who think forgiveness is a sign of weakness
people like Anthony Ray Hinton prove them wrong…
They prove beyond a shadow of a doubt…
forgiveness is the essence of the strong.
Forgiveness allows you to live free of animosity.
It allows you to move on past the pain.
It allows a smile to return again and again
every time you walk out in the rain.
