Forgive because we are Forgiven

Forgiveness was at the heart of our discussion of The Lord's Prayer Sunday because forgiveness is at the heart of the message shared by Jesus. That makes sense given that the idea of forgiveness and redemption seems to be something we crave, seek, and feel we don't have as a society.

One of the filmmakers who I feel like best captures this soul craving is M. Night Shymalan. Shymalan's films have always been powerful to me because from "The Sixth Sense" through "The Happening" the story was always the same, but the lense through which it is told changes. His stories are all around a central character or characters who are searching for redemption. Along with that comes the idea of meaningful reconciliation.

One of the best examples of that is "Signs." Not only does Mel Gibson's character have to come to terms with his anger toward God, but he also has to develop some sort of reconciliation with Ray Reddy (played by Shymalan), the man who was responsible for his wife's death. The few scenes between the two are powerful because of the deep emotional hurt that is connected to that need for reconciliation.

I saw that again in the recent film "Devil," which was written by Shymalan. In the film, one of the central characters was a police officer whose wife and son had been killed in a hit-and-run accident. Throughout the course of the film, it turns out that one of the people trapped in the building where the police officer is a respondent was the man responsible for the deaths.

Early in the film the detective is full of anger. It keeps him from moving forward in his life. He seems bent on finding the person responsible and making them pay. At the end of the film, he is confronted by the man who was responsible for the death of his wife. Rather than responding in anger, he responded by forgiving the man, letting go of that anger, and taking the steps toward moving forward. It serves as a powerful scene and the powerful reminder of the importance of real forgiveness.

I couldn't help but think about that yesterday. Forgiving others is often hard for all of us, but when you consider all that we've been forgiven by God, it doesn't seem like as big a hill to climb.