John Beckett in his book, Loving Monday, wrote that he had just turned thirteen and was enjoying a special vacation with his dad and his Uncle Harold at Harold’s cabin in Canada 600 miles from home. “But,” he said, “Trouble found us when Uncle Harold got the notion that his young nephew might like to look at his favorite playing cards which featured naked women. Dad walked into the room at that moment. Seeing what was taking place, he exploded! Here was his almost 60-year old older brother exposing his young son to pornography. ‘Pack your bags, John. We’re going home!’ A few minutes later we crawled into our small cedar boat; dad started the outboard motor and we pulled away from the dock. I bit my lip. I was so disappointed. Why would my outing with my dad and my uncle end this way? But 100 yards from shore Dad said grimly, ‘John, we’re going back.’ He’d been thinking and praying. I thought he’d forgotten something. When Dad pulled up to the dock, Uncle Harold ran down from the cabin to meet us. I could see in dad’s face this intense righteous anger that had met with an equally powerful and deep love for his brother. Dad was coming back to make things right. Too many years, too many shared experiences, too much was at stake to allow this incident to become a festering wound that would never heal. The embraced; a few words were spoken. That was all that was needed and they understood. Never again would Uncle Harold violate his brother’s care for his son. Never again would he underestimate Dad’s intense sense of right and wrong. Dad’s passion for his beliefs had caused him to risk fracture with his oldest brother. Yet, without compromising that passion, he found a place for reconciliation and forgiveness.”
Do you need to find a place of reconciliation and forgiveness? I’ll tell you where it begins. It begins on your knees when you pray, “Father, forgive me of my sins, as I forgive those who have sinned against me.”
Blessings,
Pastor Ken
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