Forgive and…
You were going to say “forget”, weren’t you? Forgive and forget. Something you’ve no doubt heard by well-meaning people (perhaps even pastors) who tell you that you need to get over your problem and simply forget about it.
In my pastoral care class we had some great discussion on the true nature of forgiveness. The maxim, “forgive and forget” is not found in the Bible. It’s a classic case of taking a common bit of folk wisdom an projecting it on scripture. I’d like to share with you some of my class notes on forgiveness, taken from a lecture given by the Rev. Dr. Jody Clarke, Atlantic School of Theology.
“Forgive and Forget – as a platitude it compromises both the nature of forgiveness and the integrity of the mind’s capacity to remember. Besides, one of the first manifestations of a person’s resistances is that of masochistic self recrimination. (i.e. “I am so stupid.” “I don’t remember.”)
Forgive and Remember – this is also ripe with the trappings of self-defeating structure known as rationalization. With this maxim, the self says that he or she will forgive but reserves the right to hold a grudge. Also by remembering, the self is vowing never to allow the injury to occur again. As laudable as this is, it nonetheless points to the fact that the individual is still navigating life from a place of injury rather than clarity.
The new maxim, Engage the cracks and then allow the self to restructure itself. The interesting thing is that in truly engaging the cracks the self is changed – to forgive and forget to forgive and remember become mote points because the self decides that life is not to be lived as a victim, as a slave to the repressed machinations of the heart.”
Not as easy a saying to remember as “forgive and forget”, is it? But life isn’t about easy sayings that leave us with little comfort – sayings that are simply untrue. God does want us to forgive. Whether we forget the injury is immaterial – it’s about how we come away from the experience. Are you limping through life, or are you walking free? How would forgiveness bring healing into your life?
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Words from the General
- Advice from the General to his Officers
In honour of Founder’s Day (July 10), reprinted for your reading pleasure is an article from the August 1898 edition of “The Officer”. It is advice from the Founder to his estimated 25,000 officers, worldwide, who flocked to Booth’s banner in creating “The Salvation Army”. Enjoy.
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worthy of His name?
Alexander III of Macedon (356-323 BC), popularly known as Alexander the Great
A devotional thought:
When Alexander the Great ruled all the known world, he made it his policy to hear any appeal made to him. One day a young soldier was brought before Alexander for trial. The young man wore the tunic of Alexander’s Army. “With what is he charged?” asked Alexander who held absolute authority in all matters. There would be no appeal of his verdict. “He is charged with cowardice in battle,” answered the prosecutor.
A great hush fell over the crowd gathered in the judgment hall. They knew Alexander as a general who expected his men to be gallant since he, himself, did not push his soldiers but led them into the thick of battle. Alexander looked at the young soldier who was a mere youth, fair haired and still too young to shave. The angry scowl on his face slowly changed into an understanding smile, “What is your name, soldier?” “Worthy King,” responded the youth, “my name is as yours – Alexander.”
Anger came back into Alexander’s face, and he leaped to his feet. Alexander grabbed the soldier’s tunic. “Young soldier,” he said with great control, “either change your name, or change your behaviour.”
Christian, are you worthy of His name?
(Illustration Digest, p. 7)
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Happy Dominion Day: Put some praise in your Canada Day celebrations…
- Click on the picture above to hear a rendition of Alexander Muir’s, “The Maple Leaf Forever”, written in 1867 – the year of our Confederation.
“A Mari usque ad Mare” or in English, “From Sea to Sea.” Those of you up on your Latin, will know that this is Canada’s motto. At first glance, “from sea to sea” might not seem that special. We can imagine it got its name based on our country’s geography: after all, we are a nation encompassed by three oceans (Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic). But that is not what the Fathers of Confederation had in mind when they envisioned our motto.
Canada’s motto comes from Psalm 72:8 which reads, “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” You see, it was the prayerful desire of our early leaders that the new country of Canada not only be a dominion of Great Britain, but importantly, that it be a dominion under God.
So on Canada’s 143rd birthday, give thanks to God who continues to bless us as a nation. And may our citizens today, once again, turn to the Living God of Psalm 72:8, who continues to pour out his love for us – from sea to sea.
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The Queen
Queen Elizabeth II. (Click on the picture above to hear a live rendition of "The Queen" performed by the Halifax Boys Honor's Choir, Garrison Grounds, June 28th, 2010.
Whenever the Queen comes to Canada, there’s always talk about the role of the monarchy in the 21st century. At one time, support for the Queen seemed to be waning, but the unprecedented support given to her by Canadians surprised many who thought the Monarchy’s days were numbered.
Queen Elizabeth is a lady with many names and titles. According to Wikipedia (it’s a blog people, don’t expect me to fact check this with an Encyclopedia), the Queen has dozens of titles. The Queen is: Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas Queen, Defender of the Faith,Duchess of Edinburgh, Countess of Merioneth, Baroness Greenwich, Duke of Lancaster, Lord of Mann, Duke of Normandy, Sovereign of the Most Honourable Order of the Garter, Sovereign of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Sovereign of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Sovereign of the Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick, Sovereign of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Sovereign of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Sovereign of the Distinguished Service Order, Sovereign of the Imperial Service Order, Sovereign of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India, Sovereign of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, Sovereign of the Order of British India, Sovereign of the Indian Order of Merit, Sovereign of the Order of Burma, Sovereign of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert, Sovereign of the Royal Family Order of King Edward VII, Sovereign of the Order of Merit, Sovereign of the Order of the Companions of Honour, Sovereign of the Royal Victorian Order, Sovereign of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem.
Pretty amazing isn’t it? Perhaps it makes you glad that you only have three names. Some facts you may not know about the Queen. She is head of the church of England which makes her a religious leader of over 25 million Anglicans. During WWII, the young Princess Elizabeth was heavily involved in the war effort. She repaired and serviced trucks, motor cycles, and military jeeps. So if you’re ever four-wheeling with Her Majesty and you pop a tire, she could probably repair it quicker than you could.
The Queen is a person just like anybody else. She is loved by God, but no more so than you or I. Yet at the same time, she embodies an institution: she represents our liberal parliamentary democracy and all that it stands for. What do you think of this rather curious institution called the monarchy? Does it have a place in today’s world?
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The General’s Pastoral Letter: Counting
Dear Fellow Salvationists,
This 19th Pastoral Letter comes to each of you with warmest good wishes and greetings in the Lord Jesus Christ.
As I prepare this Letter in an upstairs room in my home in London, England, I look out to see the green and blossoming evidence of late spring. The trees are suddenly abundant in leaf. The sky is lighter and the days grow longer. We discern the hand of God in nature once again and we are filled with gratitude.
Readers in the southern hemisphere are in autumn, waiting for the darker nights and colder temperatures of winter to arrive. The seasons march on with seemingly inexorable pace. We feel our smallness, our creatureliness, and we sense too the overarching mind of the Creator in it all.
Little wonder then that we can burst into song to declare: ‘How great Thou art!’ We offer praise amid the awe. We bring to God our smallness, ready for him to help us rise in Christ to all the fullness of what we can be.
It is God’s plan that each one of us should be all we can be. You matter, you count. Tell yourself out loud: ‘I matter! I count in the eyes of Almighty God!’
Now suddenly my mind is racing off in another direction as I see the word ‘count’ appear in my script. The Bible tells us that even the number of hairs upon our heads has been counted and is known to God in Heaven. This is a powerful reminder of God’s intimate knowledge of us. I find it enormously comforting, but many find the thought menacing. Not everyone wants a Creator God who interacts with us. Instead they seek freedom to wander, licence to please themselves, falsely supposing this to be freedom.
Our God is a counting God. We see this in Jesus who spoke about a flock of sheep numbering 100, but one was lost thus reducing the flock to only 99. The shepherd would not rest until the lost one had been found. That lost one is you. It is also me. We are ‘Sheep Number 100’! How good that we have a God who can count and who searches tirelessly for us when we go missing. This divine attribute is ever before us when we do the sacredly routine work of counting how many folk are in a worship meeting, or how many have used the Mercy Seat, or how many names appear on the soldiers’ roll and other rolls.
If our Creator is by nature a God who counts, then we in turn must expect also to be like him. We can count our blessings, we can count the days he has allotted to us and give thanks for each one of them.
God stands alongside us as we count. He knows how many Army soldiers and junior soldiers there are in the world, and how many there are in your local corps. He knows the number of Army officers in the world and the number of cadets in our training colleges. He loves to see these numbers grow. He knows too that we are at work now in 121 countries of the world. Best of all he knows personally and in detail every individual soldier, junior soldier, officer and cadet. He knows those who are his.
We bask in this knowledge.
Commissioner Helen Clifton joins me in greeting each of you in the precious Name of Jesus.
Please continue to pray for us.
I commend each one of you to the grace of Christ.
Sincerely in him,
Shaw Clifton
General
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Should I get an iPad? What scripture says…
- A believer’s struggle with consumerism
As I invite you to offer your opinion on whether or not I should buy an iPad, I thought that I would use the Wesleyan quadrilateral to guide the discussion. That is, I’ll examine the ethical considerations of buying an expensive piece of machinery through the lens of scripture, reason, tradition, and experience. John Wesley’s quadrilateral is by no means the definitive framework for considering Christian ethics, but it is a fairly good one. For those of you new to the discussion, last week I invited feedback on whether I as a Christian (who believes that the money given me through my Salvation Army salary is a resource from God) should purchase an iPad. The real point behind this is to examine the Christian’s relationship with today’s consumer culture. Is rushing out to buy the iPad or any other technological fad falling into the trap of materialism? If we determine that it is in fact materialism, could we possibly conclude that buying an iPad is materialistic, perhaps even sinful?
“‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
‘The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
‘No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
Sounds clear enough on some level. The words, “Where you treasure is, there your heart will be also” kind of slap you in the face, don’t they? In my previous posting, one of the commenters noted that the Bible does not expressly say, “Thou shalt not buy an iPad.” Very true, but these words from Jesus that suggest money and luxuries can cause divided loyalties in the believer’s heart should make us wary about the things we long for. Naturally, we could counter-argue this by saying, “It’s only wrong to buy an iPad if your love for the iPad surpasses your love for Jesus.” I don’t know of many Christians who would say they love the iPad more than they do their Saviour. I think however that these distinctions are quite difficult to make and cannot be so easily separated. On a conscious level, of course we love Jesus more than anything. But does this declaration of loyalty always match up with the way we spend our money?
What do you think? Does scripture suggest that materialism is inherently bad, or should it be seen as a reward for God’s faithful? (Wasn’t Abraham the Patriarch abundantly rich in land and cattle?) Perhaps it is simply a matter of priorities. Is buying an iPad okay if you’ve paid all your bills, paid your tithe to the church, made a big Partner’s in Mission contribution, etc?
Thank you to some of my congregation members for their verbal feedback. Perhaps I should take a lesson in materialistic-free living from them. They’ve not even sat at a computer before, much less know what an iPad is. And I love them for it.
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