This is inspiration sent to me by Kathie. I loved the thoughts and asked her if I could post it. So here it is.
(Hope others will follow her lead. Please send your discoveries. They will be helpful to someone else! Thanks from Pam)
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After reading the healing of the man with palsy in the Bible Lesson, I had some new insights into the meaning and demands of forgiveness. Jesus said to him, “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.” I love that he called him “son,” as this sounded like a loving term such as “dear one” or “precious child.”
But then he tells him to be cheerful. That seems so unkind and callous after such a loving greeting, for what was there for him to be cheerful about? Next Jesus tells him that his sins are forgiven. I looked up “forgive” in Rodale’s Synonym Finder and found it to mean “cancel; wipe the slate clean.” Now that is a great reason to cheer!
All the man had been educated to believe to be true about his condition was canceled. All thoughts of unworthiness, disability, restriction, or discouragement were permanently, immediately erased. In their place were expressions of infinite ability, health, freedom and joy. No longer was there any misperception or deception to interfere with his bearing witness to his innate, divine nature as the pure manifestation of Truth, Life and Love. He was free to go forward with confidence in God’s care.
Christ gifts us with the ability to forgive. We pray daily to God to forgive us as we forgive others, but do we trust that God can really do that, and that He will? And what about our part in forgiving? Can we truly “wipe the slate clean” of every unlovely thought we have ever had of others? Do we even want to? Are we willing to see our family, colleagues, neighbors, even politicians, as God sees them and as He made them?
As if that’s not challenging enough, we must include ourselves in this activity of forgiveness. We need to erase from our own thought any imperfect views we’ve ever held of ourselves. Discordant thoughts, actions or experiences, even thoughts of mistrust in God’s loving care, need to be replaced with confidence in Love’s ability to provide us with all we need to live life freely, and fulfill His purpose for us.
As Jesus called the man “son,” we can feel that same Christ love calling us, “dearly loved, safe, precious child.” That man’s freedom is, in all ways, ours as well.
This should make us cheerful!