And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him. – Genesis 45:15

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 30, 2015): Genesis 45

Ten years after the last bullet had been fired and the last bomb had been dropped in the conflict that we know of as World War II, Jean Goss and his wife Hildegard Goss-Mayr, two Christians known for their stand against violence of all kinds, travelled to Poland with a request. Was it possible for a group of Christians in Poland to meet with another group of Christians from West Germany? The West German Christian would travel to Poland at their own expense for the meeting. They wanted to come and ask for forgiveness.

The request was made and the group of Polish Christians sat in a stunned silence. Finally one member of the group responded to the request with the words that probably everyone else at the meeting was thinking. “What you ask is impossible. Each stone in Warsaw is soaked with Polish blood. This thing that you ask cannot be done. We cannot forgive.”

The Goss’s nodded. They understood the reaction. Ten years might have passed, but the wounds were still raw. Forgiveness would happen, but it might be generations away. The reluctance of the Polish delegation to meet with their West German counterparts was understandable – maybe even expected. The pair began to gather their things in order to leave, but before they left they stopped to celebrate one of the great symbols of Christian unity – they stopped to pray “The Lord’s Prayer” together with their Polish friends. Everyone in the room, including the Goss’s, had suffered from the German aggression during the Second World War.  As they reached the words of the prayer that says “Forgive our sins as we forgive …” the voices in the room stopped. The tension could have been cut with a knife.

The same spokesman that had so eloquently outlined the reasons why a meeting with the West German Christians could not happen, now raised his tear filled eyes to look at Jean and Hildegard. His voice quivered as he spoke his next words. “I must say yes to you. I could no more pray the Our Father, I could no longer call myself a Christian – if I refuse to forgive.”

Forgiveness is one of the essential elements of our human existence. Every one of us has wronged someone and been wronged by others. Without forgiveness, the weight of the debt just continues to build. Forgiveness says I no longer hold you responsible – it lifts a weigh off of both the party that has wronged and the one who has offended. And while we can forgive someone without their active involvement in the process, the full power of forgiveness is not realized until we can sit down and talk together.

Sometimes I wish Genesis outlined what it was that Joseph and his brothers talked about in this moment in their history. But then again, I am pretty sure that I know. In the midst of catching up on all the details of life, forgiveness became a reality in the family of Israel. The wronged and the offender began to realise the importance of forgiveness. And because of it, a family and a nation was changed.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 46