Sunday, May 21, 2006
On Forgiveness
A good reflection from the sermon today. Re-written in my own words:
"There was once a painter who wished to paint the picture of the laziest person in the world. So off he went to search for one. At last, he found someone whom he thought fit the bill perfectly: a farmer who was tilling his land while sitting on a chair. Delighted, the painter immediately tried to set about painting the lazy farmer. Unfortunately, the lighting where he was standing did not produce a desirable effect on his subject, so the painter shifted to another angle in an attempt to get a better view of the farmer. When he did so, he saw that the farmer had only one leg."
Moral of the story: to forgive, one needs to shift one's own perspective to understand things from the other party's point of view.
Some additional thoughts from your truly:
Think there are cases whereby even trying to understand things from another's point of view cannot make you sympathise with their actions. Then, one must understand that forgiveness, like love, is a decision. It is choosing to live with the consequences of what the other party had caused.
"There was once a painter who wished to paint the picture of the laziest person in the world. So off he went to search for one. At last, he found someone whom he thought fit the bill perfectly: a farmer who was tilling his land while sitting on a chair. Delighted, the painter immediately tried to set about painting the lazy farmer. Unfortunately, the lighting where he was standing did not produce a desirable effect on his subject, so the painter shifted to another angle in an attempt to get a better view of the farmer. When he did so, he saw that the farmer had only one leg."
Moral of the story: to forgive, one needs to shift one's own perspective to understand things from the other party's point of view.
Some additional thoughts from your truly:
Think there are cases whereby even trying to understand things from another's point of view cannot make you sympathise with their actions. Then, one must understand that forgiveness, like love, is a decision. It is choosing to live with the consequences of what the other party had caused.
// posted by Jenn @ 8:58 PM 
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