A Lesson on Resentment and Forgiveness by Rev. Carl Swearson

A Lesson on Resentment and Forgiveness by Rev. Carl Swearson
At the Prayer Breakfast in Omaha this past Saturday, January 19, the guest speaker was Wynema Morris, an elder of the Native American Omaha Tribe, who lives on the Walthill reservation in Northeast Nebraska.  She gave a testimony of her experience late last year when she and Rev. Beverly Thompson traveled to Jamestown, Virginia, at the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the white settlers.  Wynema shared about her emotions being flooded with feelings of pain, hurt and resentment while she was at Jamestown Colony.  She described it as going to the place of "the beginning of the end" of her culture and the lives of many of her people.

Tribal Elder, Wynema Morris Rev. Beverly Thompson

The Reconciliation Conference, she felt, did not truly address many of the things that should have been discussed.  Many of the attempts at asking for forgiveness, on the part of the descendants of the white colonists, from the Native Americans for the many offenses inflicted on them, she thought, were in many ways, clumsy (if that is the right word) and far short of what she was hoping for.  When the apologies were given, Wynema said she did not feel in her heart the strength or the desire to forgive.
When she got home, she reported all this to her mother (in her 80's and living with her) – everything she saw and experienced.  "My mother is so wise," Wynema said, "she told me that even though it was not a very adequate attempt at repentance and reconciliation, still it was genuine and it was a beginning."  Her mother’s advice was, in spite of everything, forgiveness must be given.  "If not you, Wynema, then who will do the forgiving?  And if not now, then when?"
She said those few words from her mother really liberated her heart and now she is free of her resentment.  In life, her mother suffered more than she did, but still her mother taught her about the power of forgiveness.  Resentment does not hurt the person who causes the resentment, it only hurts the person who holds it.

That really got me thinking ……
Towards the end of Dr. Sang Hun Lee's book, "Life in the Spirit World and on Earth," he talks about traveling around in spirit world, attempting to meet the World War II Criminals, and see what their fate was in spirit world.  I remember him talking about trying to find Hitler and wanting to know what became of him. 

When Dr. Lee did find Hitler, he was naked, tied to a tree, constantly being beaten and mocked by a crowd of many thousands of Jews that he had killed or destroyed.  It struck me at that time that those thousands of people were in rock bottom hell with Hitler, though not because of some sins they committed, but because they were "chained" to Hitler through the resentments that dominated their soul. They were in hell simply because could not let go of their pain and resentment.
I read a quote once that has stayed with me: "Resentment is like you drinking a poison, hoping that the person you resent will feel its effects."

One person wrote about resentment on the internet, and this is his reflection on it:

“Resentment is the great demon, the mind killer that sucks awareness out of the self, out of the soul and rivets it on some person, place, thing or event outside. On things one can not change.
To practice resentment is to feed a demon, a demon whose mantra is, feed me, help me remember and savor the evil, the injustice inflicted on me by others.
Once fed and strengthened through practice this demon will stand guard before the doors of perception.

He will, with singular fury and exuberance, strike down any hint of grace, any stream of mercy that would presume to approach the mind’s eye.
He will obsessively scan the horizon: mining memory and experience for transgressions, sins, faux pas, insensitivities, forgetfulness: the building blocks of a fortress of isolation (for isolation is), “The only safe place for a wounded heart.”

I understand this man counsels many people who are trapped by past resentments.

I believe the most incredible act of forgiveness was accomplished by Jesus on the cross, just before he died. Jesus was not only unjustly framed and murdered, he was tortured, mocked and betrayed by people who he loved more than his own life. On the cross, Jesus said, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’ That comes from Psalms 22. You should read the whole chapter, and you’ll get a unique glimpse into Jesus’ heart just before he died. At funerals, people usually read Psalms 23 (the Lord is my Shepherd), but if they want to know Jesus better, they should start with the chapter before that.

Jesus, with the last few breaths in his body, uttered, “Father, forgive them. They DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY DO!” Think about this - No one at the foot of the cross asked Jesus for his forgiveness (that I am aware). No one expected it. Maybe no one even wanted it at that time. But Jesus forgave anyway. Thank God he did, but Jesus also benefited from that gracious act of forgiveness as well. How?

Jesus went to the Father with a clean heart. Tons of atrocities were committed against him, but he dropped them at the door as he went in to meet his Father. Why can’t we learn from that?

The Bible makes it very clear that all of us, everyone, have sinned against God and against our fellow man on many occasions.

Thankfully, God does not put the condition on us that we must stop sinning before He will give us His forgiveness. He forgives even those who do not deserve His forgiveness. When we are forgiven by God, we become recipients of His Grace. In a smaller way, when you forgive someone of their trespasses against you, they become recipients of your grace.

Wow! Just think about that for a moment. I think it’s so beautiful to see a son or a daughter imitating the good things that their mother or father does. In this sense, forgiving is a profound way to imitate our Heavenly Father.

As a child, I may not be able to fill my father’s shoes, but I sure get a big kick out of trying to walk in them. And while I’m doing that, if I would happen to look back - into my father’s eyes, I know that I’d see what any child would see, my father …. smiling.