A couple of days ago, a mother of one of the Israelis still being held hostage spoke on the radio. She had no time for Hamas, the kidnappers but she spoke of how she used her pain to understand the pain of the civilians in Gaza. This quality, of using our experience to reach out to others is very important; all to often we are content to shield ourselves behind a wall of indifference.The same day as I heard of the interview, I was sent a poem by Geoffrey Stothert-Kennedy, a priest who served as a chaplain in World War 1 and was nick-named "Woodbine Willie" because of the cigarettes he would give to the troops. It is called "Indifference" and it chimed with what I had been thinking as a result of the interview.When Jesus came to GolgothaThey hanged Him on a tree,They drove great nails through hands and feet,And made a Calvary.They crowned Him with a crown of thorns;Red were His wounds and deep,For those were crude and cruel days,And human flesh was cheap.When Jesus came to Birmingham,They simply passed Him by;They never hurt a hair of Him,They only let Him die.For men had grown more tender,And they would not give Him pain;They only just passed down the street,And left Him in the rain.Still Jesus cried, “Forgive them,For they know not what they do.”And still it rained the winter rainThat drenched Him through and through.The crowds went home and left the streetsWithout a soul to see;And Jesus crouched against a wallAnd cried for Calvary.
Perhaps the most challenging of all Christian teachings is the command to love our enemies and forgive those who wish us harm. For some, this has proved impossible. The Rev Julie Nicholson, whose daughter was killed in the July 2005 London bombing attacks, resigned her post as a priest because she could not forgive the perpetrators of the attack. I doubt I would be able to offer much forgiveness if I were in her position. I am uncomfortable with the position of some, who seem to regard a refusal to offer forgiveness as a moral failing on the part of the victim. Whilst Jesus certainly did teach his followers to forgive those who had done them wrong, it is interesting that on the cross, the words that St Luke records are that he asked God, his father, to forgive those who were crucifying him; he did not explicitly forgive his tormentors himself.I have recently been reading a book by TV vicar, Rev Kate Bottley. In a chapter on love, she deals with loving those we find unlovable. For me, she makes the helpful point that it is possible to balance two contrasting emotions. Her example was of a parent dealing with a naughty child; in my own experience it has been the frustration of dealing with an elderly relative. It is possible to feel anger and love together. So I think it is with forgiveness or love and anger; there is a way of holding the two together when we have been hurt.
