Dagstuk | Donderdag 29 Augustus 2024

Teen die einde van ons gesprek oor vergifnis hierdie week lees ek graag vir ons ‘n seëngebed van Jan Richardson. Sy noem vergifnis die moeilikste seening om te ontvang en uit te deel. Mag haar woorde ons inspireer om ons wonde ernstig op te neem maar nie toe te laat om ons lewenslank vas te hou en defineer nie:

The Hardest Blessing

If we cannot
lay aside the wound,
then let us say
it will not always
bind us.

Let us say
the damage
will not eternally
determine our path.

Let us say
the line of our life
will not always travel
along the places
we are torn.

Let us say
that forgiveness
can take some practice,
can take some patience,
can take a long
and struggling time.

Let us say
that to offer
the hardest blessing,
we will need
the deepest grace;
that to forgive
the sharpest pain,
we will need
the fiercest love;
that to release
the ancient ache,
we will need
new strength
for every day.

Let us say
the wound
will not be
our final home—

that through it
runs a road,
a way we would not
have chosen
but on which
we will finally see
forgiveness,
so long practiced,
coming toward us,
shining with the joy
so well deserved.