Forgiveness 寬恕

Kate Braestrup

by Alex

Starting 3 September, we are very pleased to have the interfaith minister Peter Lloyd to lead a series of monthly UU worships for us.  The theme of the first one is Forgiveness.  I enjoyed it a lot.  Thanks Peter for putting together this fantastic worship service.

Only after the worship did I find out that, incidentally, the theme of the September issue of Quest is forgiveness!

Quest is a monthly publication of the Church of the Larger Fellowship, a "church" serving isolated UUs worldwide.

The format of Quest is two sermons followed by other content.  Needless to say, both sermons are on forgiveness.  What struck me most, however, is a short story told by Kate Braestrup.  Kate's two children were badly burnt in an explosion caused by the gasoline Kate's cousin George, an adult, used to ignite a pile of backyard brush.  Those few simple yet astounding words from one of her burnt child Zach to George, who was blaming himself, fully illustrates the divine quality of forgiveness: "It's all right, George.  We love you."

Kate's final remark is so true: "If you are living in love, you are in heaven no matter where you are. May heaven hold you. May you always, always, live in love."

This story and the two sermons in this issue of Quest beautifully complete our worship service.

Read Quest September 2011 here

跨宗教牧師 Peter Lloyd 開始為尋道會帶領一系列 UU 崇拜。第一次崇拜的主題是「寬恕」。我十分有得著；感謝 Peter。無獨有偶，Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) 出版的月刊 Quest 九月份的主題也是「寬恕」。CLF 專為世界各地沒有教會可去的 UU 個人及家庭而設。它的月刊都有兩篇很好的講道。今次最令我感受深刻的反而是 Kate Braestrup 牧師鈙述的事件。她的表親喬治，大人，用汽油點燃後院樹枝堆時，發生爆炸，燒傷她的兩名孩子。當喬治非常自責的時候，她兒子的一句話最令人明白寬恕的神聖，他以燒傷了的手搭在喬治的肩上，安慰說：「沒事的。我們都愛您！」

讓我們記取 Braestrup 牧師的一番話：只要你心中有愛，無論身處何方，你就是在天國裡。願你常活在愛中，願天國擁抱你。

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