Lewis Beverly - Forgiven

I still remember the outrage I felt as the news of the Lancaster County Amish schoolhouse shooting swept across media networks the morning of October 2, 2006. Within hours, ABC News and the Associated Press contacted me, wanting quotes. My Plain cousins, friends of two of the Amish families whose daughters were critically wounded, asked if I would request prayer from my readers for the peace-abiding people of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. Ultimately, as word reached beyond Americas shores, prayers for the injured survivors, as well as for the families of the deceased, were being offered up all over the globe.

What also emerged was sheer astonishment as believers and unbelievers alike struggled to comprehend the Amish bishops immediate offer of forgiveness to the family of Charlie Roberts, the shooter. How can mercy be extended for such a crime? some questioned. How can you simply forgive, once and for all? others wondered.

My knee-jerk response came as a simple reminder that each of us is called to forgive those who do us harm. What Christ taught in the Beatitudes is clearif we want to be forgiven, we must extend forgiveness to others.

The bishops pardon stirred up heated discussion about an all-encompassing forgiveness. Many had strong opinions; some even disputed how the Amish people could meekly follow their ministers lead in such an across-the-board act of mercy.

The families of the five little girls who died, as well as those with gravely wounded daughters, began to share that theirs was not merely a one-time offering of forgiveness. Rather, they had to purposefully choose to forgive daily and, in some cases, hour-by-hour. The father of one young victim who survived, but needs constant care, admitted that he often questions himself: Have I truly forgiven?

Author Terri Roberts journey to wholeness is a striking testimony to the power of this amazing forgiveness. Shattered emotionally by her sons crime, she realized that she, too, must forgive him. Yet how does a mother move forward after such an unthinkable deed?

I wept at the authors travail over what she might have done that autumn morning, had she known, to thwart the tragedy to come. Where was God that horrific day? Why didnt He step in and intervene? My heart was also softened by the stories of the brokenhearted Amish families whose surrender to the sovereign will of our Lord became instrumental in the authors emotional healing.

This riveting account, written by a brave and brokenhearted mother, may not be what youre expecting. In fact, it may surprise you. But it will surely present you with an enduring hope that can only come from the loving hand of our heavenly Father. You will be drawn, as I was, to embrace fully the miracle and blessing of forgiveness.

Beverly Lewis