{"id":13381,"date":"2023-03-08T08:12:54","date_gmt":"2023-03-08T13:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=13381"},"modified":"2023-03-08T08:18:38","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T13:18:38","slug":"the-poignant-powerful-profound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=13381","title":{"rendered":"the poignant, powerful & profound"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last week we made a comment here that I sense is worthy of a little increased attention. But first, let\u2019s peruse a few poignant events, some recent, some not, but all profoundly relevant\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As reported by NBC Today<\/em> and Readers Digest: \u201cEarly one morning in Dacula, Ga., Matt Swatzell was driving home from a 24-hour shift as a firefighter and EMS and had only 30 minutes of sleep. He was less than four miles from his home on October 2, 2006 when he suddenly heard what he calls \u2018the most God awful sound I\u2019ve ever heard.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swatzell, then 20, realized he had fallen asleep at the wheel and crashed. When he got out of the car, he saw the car of 30-year old June Fitzgerald. She was pregnant and with her then 19-month-old daughter Faith. Faith survived the crash but her mother and unborn sibling passed away.\u201d \u201cFitzgerald\u2019s husband, a full-time pastor, asked for the man\u2019s diminished sentence\u2014and began meeting with Swatzell for coffee and conversation. Many years later, the two men remain close. \u2018You forgive as you\u2019ve been forgiven.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 2019 in Dallas, Texas as reported by CNN: \u201cStrangers now recognize Brandt Jean after he publicly forgave the former Dallas police officer who killed his older brother in his own apartment\u2026 Brandt Jean shocked many when he told Amber Guyger he forgave her and said he didn\u2019t want her to go to prison after she received a 10-year sentence<\/a> in October for killing Botham Jean, a 26-year-old accountant [Brandt\u2019s brother]. With the judge\u2019s permission, Brandt walked across a Dallas courtroom and hugged Guyger tightly for nearly a minute. Two months after that hug, Brandt has not dwelled on the moment. It was a show of forgiveness in the most public of places, an instance of him being the person he was raised to be.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And from ABC News:<\/em> \u201cThe New York mother of two who suffered a serious brain injury and lost the use of her left eye after two teenagers sent a shopping cart crashing down 50 feet onto her says she forgives the boys and is more concerned for the welfare of her own teenage son, who witnessed the accident.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marion Hedges was briefly in a coma and now needs daily physical therapy after two teenage boys hoisted a shopping cart over the railing of a shopping mall parking garage last fall. In a video tape obtained by the New York Post, the two teens are seen hoisting a shopping cart at the East Harlem Target shopping center in New York City. At first it gets stuck, but then the teens push it over, sending it crashing 50 feet down and hitting Hedges, 47, as she is standing below. Hedges spent weeks fighting for her life. \u2018I wish them well, I do,\u2019 she said. \u2018I feel very sorry for them. My son is 13 also, and he is a very good boy.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each of the above is a profound story of forgiveness. Not only are they real life accounts of forgiveness, each of the above would no doubt be incredibly difficult <\/em>to forgive. In Marion Hedges\u2019 situation, for example, her father-in-law had a far different perspective. “What have these two young thugs learned? That you can get away with something like this with very little punishment, and that’s a very bad commentary on the state of justice.” He told an ABC News affiliate that he believes the boys should be “hung by their toe nails.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hedges\u2019s father-in-law isn\u2019t alone. There are multiple persons in each of the above instances who believed that not only was forgiveness unnecessary,<\/em> but it was also wrong<\/em> to extend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our most recent post examining the (what I believe very disrespectful) case for cancel culture, we made the statement that one of the unfortunate aspects of the intentionally ostracizing tool is that it circumvents the apology\/forgiveness\/repentance process \u2014 and that process is full of unparalleled power. But my sense is we live in a culture that doesn\u2019t fully value the process. Why? Because we don\u2019t understand what forgiveness actually is\u2026 or in reality, is not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forgiveness is not<\/em> excusing, tolerating or diminishing what happened. Forgiveness is not<\/em> a dismissal of justice. Forgiveness is, however, the decision to release the person who caused you pain. Forgiveness is thereby freeing to the one who chooses to extend it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brandt Jean would say that he originally wanted to kill the woman who hurt him and his family so much. \u201cPretty much this entire year, I pretty much \u2026 hated her.\u201d That changed when he heard her apology. \u201cThat\u2019s when like my heart kind of opened up.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He would say more. \u201cGradually, throughout this year, I worked on myself and I understood that this anger shouldn\u2019t be kept inside me.\u201d He also said that his willingness to forgive the woman will help him apply that spirit of forgiveness to other parts of his life. \u201cIf I could forgive her then, I could forgive anyone for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not always supported by current culture. Often incredibly difficult. But always powerful and good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week we made a comment here that I sense is worthy of a little increased attention. But first, let\u2019s peruse a few poignant events, some recent, some not, but all profoundly relevant\u2026 As reported by NBC Today and Readers Digest: \u201cEarly one morning in Dacula, Ga., Matt Swatzell was driving home from a 24-hour … <\/p>\n

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