The Power of Forgiveness

On my run this morning, I listened to the fourth and final episode of “Road to Rickwood,” a podcast from NPR. It’s all about Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama – the oldest professional ballpark in America – and the history of segregation and racism in professional baseball. If you’re a baseball and/or history fan, I highly recommend that you listen to this four-episode podcast. Click through the link above to access it.

The host, comedian and Birmingham native Roy Wood, Jr., tells the story of Rickwood, all the way from its first game in August 1910 to an MLB game played there this past June. He interviews several Negro League players who played for or against the Birmingham Black Barons – a team that shared its home games at Rickwood with the all-white Birmingham Barons. It’s really fascinating to hear their stories of what their lives were like during the era of segregation and open prejudice in the United States.

In an interview with Ayesha Rascoe (the “Extra Innings” episode of the podcast), Roy Wood, Jr., answered Ayesha’s question about what he learned from his interviews with the Negro League players. Wood said something that made me stop in the middle of my run and jot down his words:

You cannot hold a grudge longer than the one who was aggrieved. – Roy Wood, Jr.

What did he learn from these men who had endured years of racism in the world of professional baseball? He learned that they were not angry. They found joy in their sport. They endured and overcame. They did not hold grudges against the people who treated them so badly.

In a word, they forgave.

These Negro League baseball players did not hold grudges against those who treated them poorly through racist and discriminatory actions. That reality affects how Wood approaches those past actions, too.

There is power in forgiveness. Sometimes we talk about how forgiveness benefits the culprit and the one who has been harmed. But Wood’s observation takes it one step further: forgiveness releases others from the burden of carrying grudges on our behalf! Have you ever thought about that?

When we forgive someone, we are allowing ourselves to move on – and we are allowing people who would support us to move on, as well. Forgiveness is not simply an internal, personal experience. It is an experience that affects our entire community, our circles of friendship, our connections and relationships.

You can’t hold a grudge longer than the one who was aggrieved.

You know me – I’m always going to turn the discussion toward Jesus to see if there are any similarities. Did Jesus ever practice forgiveness? Does he call us to forgive others? Are we released from holding grudges on behalf of our friends who have been harmed but have found ways to forgive those who have harmed them?

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” – Jesus in Luke 23:34

In the worst moment of his life, while he was actively being nailed to a cross as part of the crucifixion process, when he was experiencing tremendous pain and the anticipation of certain death, Jesus voiced this prayer of forgiveness. He forgave the Roman soldiers who were killing him. This action released Jesus’s followers from holding grudges against the Roman officials and Jewish authorities who had called for his crucifixion. After all, you can’t hold a grudge longer than the one who was aggrieved, and Jesus let go of that potential grudge immediately.

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” – Jesus in Luke 6:37

Jesus calls his followers to forgive those who oppose them, harm them, stand in opposition to them. Just two verses earlier, he calls us to “love your enemies” and “do good to them.”

When we forgive, when we love our enemies, when we stop holding grudges, we free ourselves – and those around us – from the pain we have experienced.

It’s a simple but amazing reality. And it points us to the importance of community life. Our lives are intertwined more than we realize, and our choices affect more than just ourselves.

The next time you ponder whether or not to forgive someone who has harmed you, take a moment to think about who else will benefit from your act of forgiveness. Who else will you release from the burden of carrying a grudge on your behalf? One act of forgiveness can bring about so much good in the world, often more good than we realize in the moment.

Why I’m Not an Evangelical

Earlier this month, I attended a brilliant presentation by Petra Alsoofy, the Outreach and Partnerships Manager from the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU). You may not be familiar with ISPU: it’s an organization based in Dearborn, Michigan, which was founded after the attacks of September 11, 2001. According to their website, “ISPU provides objective research and education about American Muslims to support well-informed dialogue and decision-making.”

ISPU seeks to help everyone understand more about what life is like for American Muslims. That was the emphasis of Petra Alsoofy’s presentation a few weeks ago. She shared lots of information with about fifty of us who gathered together at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Midland. (You can watch her presentation at this link; enter the passcode Xffx&8s9 and you’ll get access to it.)

After Petra’s presentation, I signed up for the ISPU email list. It’s important for me to hear perspectives that are outside my tradition. That’s why, among other things, I have listened to the podcast Inspired (by Interfaith Voices) every week for around fifteen years.

Yesterday, ISPU sent out results of a survey on what American Muslims believe about climate change. The title of the report reads like this: “The Majority of American Muslims Believe that Climate Change is the Result of Human Behavior and that Government Regulation is a Way to Solve for it.”

What I’m writing about today is “Why I’m Not an Evangelical.” I promise, these things are related to each other. Continue reading →

Three important practices

Dynamic tension. Compromise. Beauty.

I found these three practices today in a book written by Brian McLaren. It’s called “A Generous Orthodoxy” and was published in 2004. In a chapter titled “Why I Am (Ana)baptist/Anglican,” he explores the reasons why he is attracted to both the Anabaptist and Anglican traditions within the broader Christian family.

The Anglican tradition offers these three practices, which McLaren summarizes in a few paragraphs. These practices speak clearly to what I want to be about as a Christian and to what I believe is important during this season of life in the Church of God and, more broadly, in Christianity (at least in America). Continue reading →

The Christmas Candle

Today I would like to introduce you to a little-known Christmas carol called “The Christmas Candle.” Its lyrics were written a century ago by an American poet named Anna Hempstead Branch. These lyrics were set to music by another female American, a composer named Roberta Bitgood, in 1937.

I discovered this carol when Tara and I sang it with the church choir at Trinity Episcopal Church in Bay City during their Christmas concert this past Sunday afternoon. I can’t find an online recording of the carol for you to listen to, so we’ll have to make do with just the lyrics. But they are powerful enough by themselves. Read them slowly, thoughtfully, carefully: Continue reading →

Not a Manger Scene

“No, honey, that’s not a manger scene.”

Those are the words spoken in a single-panel comic by Steve Breen for the San Diego Union-Tribune on December 2, 2022.

In this comic, a few people are walking down a paved sidewalk, surrounded by trees and shrubs in a public park. A couple of strands of white Christmas lights are hanging overhead across the sidewalk. In the foreground, we see an adult and a child – perhaps a grandfather and grandchild – walking hand-in-hand down the path, away from us, as if we are following them on their outdoor walk. They are looking over to the side, where, away from the path and in front of a low brick wall, a young family sits on the ground, huddled together with a few blankets. This family consists of a father, mother, and young child, and they are arranged in such a way that a passerby (like the grandchild) might notice a similarity to the familiar Christmas scene of Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus lying in a manger.

“No, honey, that’s not a manger scene.”

Take a few moments to sit with that comic, and think about it. I’ll share a few thoughts below. Continue reading →