Let us forget and forgive injuries!

Matthew 9:32-37

When they left, a demon-possessed man who couldn’t speak was brought to Jesus. So Jesus cast out the demon, and then the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed. “Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel!” they exclaimed. But the Pharisees said, “He can cast out demons because he is empowered by the prince of demons.” Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.

Food for thought!

Have you ever been misrepresented? Has anyone ever taken your words and works and twisted them around and used them against you? Have you ever done something good, with good intentions, which was misinterpreted as bad? Have you ever been attacked, slandered and envied for doing good? This is what is happening to Jesus. He has done something good, he has healed a man, and his enemies are not happy; because they were helpless to oppose him by fair means, they resort to slander and to character assassination.

This said, Jesus does something that is a real food for thought. Immediately after being slandered, Jesus moved on. The gospel says: the Pharisees said, “He can cast out demons because he is empowered by the prince of demons.” Jesus did not nurse the insert; he rather moved on as if nothing had happened. And this is the best way to deal with insult; it is the best way to respond to slander.

Yes, it hurts to be wronged. It can be maddening, infuriating, and unfair. But repeatedly reliving what happened a day, week, month, or even years ago is not healing but “rehearsing.” It becomes a process of practicing old routines, rather than learning new responses or thinking in fresh channels. When we continue to pick at emotional scars, we are indulging in useless, unnecessary suffering instead of getting on with our life.

On occasion, it can be a healing experience to recall and face traumatic experiences. This type of remembering can enable us to see past events for what they were and release them, instead of dreading some future time when there may be hurting or embarrassing revelations. Forgiveness can be a powerful healing agent. Forgiveness is a process of giving up the false for the true, erasing error from mind and body and life. Forgive yourself. Forgive others. Forgive everything!

An old African proverb says, “he who forgives ends the quarrel.” Are you willing to end your quarrels? “Only the brave know how to forgive…. A coward never forgave; it is not his nature.” (Laurence Sterne). Are you prepared and willing to get on with your life as Jesus did in today's gospel reading and “let go and let God” handle everything else? Yes, you can!