There was a 12-year-old boy in California who witnessed the murder of his father and the brutal rape-murder of his mother. His life seemed ruined. Sent to a state institution for boys, he was apathetic and withdrawn, and did poorly in his work. Although he was paraded through the offices of several psychologists and attended numerous therapy sessions, nothing seemed to break through the shield of defenses his young mind had thrown up.
Then, shortly after graduation from high school, he attended a church youth meeting and heard the accounts of several young people about the difference Christ had made in their lives, particularly in how they could look beyond trying to get even with people who had sinned against them in some way. He listened intently, naturally, since it touched on his problem. In time he began to grasp this enlightened approach and his life began to turn from the bitter to the better. His personality brightened. Where he had been introverted and withdrawn, he gradually made new friends. He applied to a local college and was admitted. After college, he went on to law school. But he still didn’t have complete satisfaction.
Luckily, he was able to pinpoint the source of his incompleteness – he still harbored a residue of hatred toward the murderer who had killed his parents and messed up his life. He was wise enough to know it had to be dealt with. So, while he was in law school, he arranged to visit the man in prison who had committed what most would call “an unforgivable crime.”
The first visit was not a good one. They were both nervous and had a hard time talking to one another. But the young man was determined, and went back a second time. It proved to be a breakthrough. “I’ve made a bargain with God,” the young law student told the prisoner, “If God will wipe the slate clean for the awful hatred I’ve had for you, I’m willing to personally acquit you for the egregious crime you committed against me.”
The prisoner was astonished … and deeply moved. It softened his hardened heart and after four more visits broke it open enough to where he wanted the same power that the law student had found. He aimed his life in that direction.
Some years later, when the prisoner was paroled, the law student, now an attorney in Modesto, California, helped him to get a job and start a new life.
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(story told by John Killinger, in sermon, “A Festival of Forgiveness,” printed in THE GOD NAMED HALLOWED, Abingdon, 1988.)