I\u2019ve been thinking about redemption since I wrote yesterday\u2019s post.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a word I use.\u00a0 But it\u2019s the only word I can think of to describe those moments of relief when one\u2019s most shameful secret is told to a compassionate witness and somehow loses its sting. There are a couple of scenes in two of Goudge\u2019s books where the person told says \u201cI\u2019d have done the same.\u201d In others just the telling to a sympathetic listener brings relief.\u00a0 It\u2019s like the terrible thing you did becomes just an ordinary human stumble.\u00a0 What happens then isn\u2019t really forgiveness, it\u2019s BEYOND forgiveness.\u00a0 That thing which separated you from the human race becomes the thing that rejoins you.\u00a0 I had done something, years ago, I hadn\u2019t intended to hurt my friend Lynelle but it had hurt her.\u00a0 Recently I asked her if she had forgiven me, and she said \u201cYou\u2019ve been carrying that for all these years?\u201d And again I felt huge relief.\u00a0 I once had a dream in which I\u2019d had an experience of God\u2019s forgiveness and was trying to explain to other people how god had forgiven us BEFORE we had even done the thing.
\nIn the Dictionary the first meaning of \u201credeem\u201d is \u201cto recover ownership of by paying a specified sum.\u201d The sixth is \u201cto set free, to rescue or ransom.\u201d I think that\u2019s the closest to what I\u2019m trying to describe \u2014 to be set free from a burden of shame.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve been thinking about redemption since I wrote yesterday\u2019s post.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a word I use.\u00a0 But it\u2019s the only word I can think of to describe those moments of relief when one\u2019s most shameful secret is told to a … Continue reading