Forgiveness Among Friends

How easily the heart is hardened against another for the most petty of reasons! Can peace be possible for a heart that holds a grudge? A soul that seeks to make amends and forgive builds a lasting peace which sustains difficult relationships.

"But love your enemies...your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven". (Luke 6:35-37)

Melding Stone

Any hardness of heart precludes
The prospect of a lasting peace;
If trust and forgiveness eludes,
The grumblings of the heart won't cease.

The heart that refuses mercy
Dries out into a hardpan clay:
Spirits succomb to lethargy,
And rains of grace just wash away.

The humbled heart can find the way:
To forgive and to make amends;
With gentle kindness, to allay
The hurt -- as Christ would -- among friends.

Between two hearts reconciled,
The peace of Christ will come to rest;
With differences no longer riled,
Relationship is born and blessed.

To the merciful, mercy's shown:
Forgive and live; meld hearts of stone.

"Then Peter came and said to him, 'Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?' Jesus said to him, 'Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.'" (Matthew 18.21-22)

Lord, show me the hardness that remains in my heart, and grant me the grace to forgive and reconcile, that peace may come to rest among our hearts. Amen.