Having a Heart in a Sometimes Heartless World
Scripture focus: All you saints! Sing your hearts out to God! Thank him to his face! He gets angry once in a while, but across a lifetime there is only love. The nights of crying your eyes out give way to days of laughter. Psalm 30:4-5 The Message
“I need to get past this – my anger is hurting me and those I love.”
“Hey, I’m trying, but nothing’s happening! I still feel really emotional about this situation!”
In cleaning out my son’s closet, I found a book he wrote in kindergarten. Here’s the text from that work of art.
The Tricky
By Michael McBean
One day there was a man named John. On November 26th, John went hunting for his family.
He got lots of food. One kind of food was a turkey named Wack and another named Ou. (Get it? Wack-o?)
Later on in the day the turkeys were headed for the microwave
but they managed to escape with just a few injuries.
The story ends here because the turkeys raised such a ruckus that the people
who saw their escape refused to talk!
The End
As one forgetful friend can attest to – microwaved turkeys aren’t as yummy as the kind that you cook all day. Forgiveness isn’t microwaveable either.
“Remember that no matter how you verbalize your anger, you must forgive! Forgiving starts with an act of the will. Forgiving is a choice. It may take some time to work through the emotional feelings that are involved. We cannot immediately dismiss the feelings. Again, it takes time to reprogram our computer. It takes time to reprogram the feelings.” Happiness is a Choice, F. B. Minirth, M.D. and P.D. Meier, M.D., (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1978) p. 156.
I know it’s tough – but big hearted people learn how to do tough things! Just remember – lingering feelings do not discount the decision to forgive.
“The process of forgiveness is complete when what happened between us is no longer a ‘live issue’ in the way I think of you and relate to you, or in the way I live my life.” Forgiving Our Parents, Forgiving Ourselves, p. 169. That doesn’t mean we all of a sudden think happy thoughts all day, every day!
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