I know Thanksgiving is right around the corner, so I realize this week is all about being thankful for what you have and showing how grateful you truly are. But I thought I would change it up a bit and discuss a topic that's being lingering in my heart for quite some time now. With that being said, I'd like to dedicate my thoughts and words written in this article to the act of forgiveness.
Before I get into this story I'm about to share with you, I want you to please keep this verse in the back of your mind, "'Come now, let us settle the matter,' says the LORD. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.'"
My Christian Theology class recently discussed this topic more in depth. To truly grasp this idea of forgiveness, we ended up watching a documentary about a woman named Eva Kor. She's a Jewish 82 year old that lives in Indiana. She makes grilled cheeses for her family from a clothing iron, she worked in Real-estate, eats every single thing on her plate, and she takes her purse everywhere she goes.
She's also a Holocaust survivor.
Her and her twin sister, Miriam Mozes, were stripped away from her family and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp where Josef Mengele, an SS Nazi doctor, performed experiments on the both of them that more than likely were meant to kill them.
"We were both crying, and mother's hands were spread in despair," Eva said. "We never got to say goodbye. I had the best mother on the face of this Earth."
Years after the war was over and they were freed, Eva decided to move to the US with her husband, Michael Kor, to raise a family while Miriam lived in Israel. Unfortunately, due to the experiments the Nazi doctor performed on them, Miriam's liver failed her and she passed away from cancer in 1992.
At this point in Eva's life, her entire family was taken away from her. Determined to figure out what drug Josef Mengele used on her sister that would eventually lead to her death, Eva reached out to German Nazi party member, Hans Munch, who was also an SS physician at the concentration camp in Auschwitz.
When they met to discuss what drug it was that killed her twin, Hans told Eva that Josef Mengele never revealed what was used in his experiments. Even though Hans could not help her, Eva wanted more answers and asked him if he wanted to go back to the Auschwitz concentration camp with her to officially forgive the Nazis and what they did to her.
When Hans and Eva went back to Auschwitz and talked about the war, they were seen strolling through the white flakes arms linked together.
"'...Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow...'"
How symbolic is this? Here they were once enemies 50 years ago in a sin-filled place burning red like scarlet, and now they walk arm-and-arm through the purest white snow because Eva forgave them.
She said, "I had the power to forgive. No one could give me the power, or take it away from me. I refused to be a victim, and now I am free."
Forgiveness is very difficult, and it comes with a lot of time and a certain mindset. When someone wrongs you or commits a sin that hurts you deeply, it's hard to forgive that person and be able to walk away without it leaving a sting in your heart. Maybe it was an ex that cheated on you, a friend who gossiped behind your back, or a family member whom you've had an argument with on God knows what.
But look at this woman. She forgave the Nazis for taking her family away from her. She forgave them for making her live in fear of her beliefs. She forgave them for nearly killing her.
If she can forgive the Nazis for what they did to her, why can't we forgive those who commit the smallest of sins against us?
This woman is completely amazing, and I think we ought to take her knowledge on the matter because we live in a world that seems like it gets harder and harder to forgive everyday.
So this is my secret to forgiveness: think of forgiveness like a gift. You have the power to give that gift to the person who wronged you, and if you can completely separate the sin they did from who they are and recognize that you have a God-given big heart, forgiving someone will be much easier.
