28 Days of Love: Love Covers a Multitude of Sins

Living and teaching half way around the world, I realized that in times of solitude, that apart for the sparse connection Facebook provides, I’ve really disconnected from my friends and loved ones and no one seems to mind.  It’s a hard reality knowing that not one birthday card will show up in the mail.  Not one care package will arrive unless I make preparations to pay for it and perhaps bribe a relative to do it for you.  And, even with a free means to call, not one single call will come in, not even on my birthday.

It’s easy to get down on yourself and start a pity party when this is your reality.  But instead, I decided that there are some connections and relationships that matter more than others and as broken as they may seem, “love covers a multitude of sins” and really, I feel ready to let go of the hurt and anger and pain that comes with dealing with people who themselves who are hurting and willingly or unwillingly passing it on.

A decision to forgive starts with love.  I often wonder how Jesus in his destiny with a public and cruel death, still found love in his heart for the very people who betrayed him, persecuted him, mocked him and murdered him.  Truly, anyone might feel merited hatred and anger towards them.  But even in his agony, Jesus forgave; In spite of their hatred, Jesus demonstrated love.

This realization helped me to understand that forgiveness is tied together with love.  How can I say there is love in me when I won’t forgive?  Simply put, I can’t.

The day I decided that I would let go of the hurting and that like Jesus showed in his example, forgive, I knew this was the right thing; this was the answer I was now ready to receive.  I looked inwards and found that love was there.  :-)  So much so that I was ready to begin the path to forgiveness and let God’s love cover my sins and the sins of my ancestors and those that came before them, and the sins before them.

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” ― Mahatma Gandhi