Forgiveness

This photo was taken recently at a very quiet and peaceful Chapel located some 35 miles or so from my home.  The scene evokes so many conflicting feelings every time I visit what has become for me a serene place to reflect.  Not unlike the cross itself, when you think about it.  A cross, both a symbol of torture and death employed by the Roman Empire to keep their slaves in line and for the believer, the emblem of sacrificial love!  We speak of reaching the crossroad or arriving at the crux of the problem as examples of its use in everyday conversation.  The scene on Golgotha nearly twenty centuries ago still portrays the choice we face today.  The sacrifice of God's Son still divides the believer from the unbeliever as it did the two men who hung on either side of him that day.  The cross confers upon us a great gift...forgiveness! 

I may be misquoting the Don Henley lyrics "...what are all these voices just outside love's open door, that make us put off our contentment and long for something more..."  &  he goes on to say, "I'm talking about forgiveness...".  Some 32 years ago I didn't even recognize contentment when I already had it and sought something more.  The repercussions of my betrayal can not be measured this side of eternity!  The thing I have been seeking both from a God whom I have offended and the family I deserted, is ...forgiveness.  Forgiveness from those dear people I was responsible for protecting, leading and influencing and God, whose principals I had violated. That's the crux of my problem, even today, these many years later.  

I know God is merciful and forgives the repentant heart.  I know that to "err is human and forgive divine".  Why then do I feel that when I seek that forgiveness with all the sincerity of my heart, do I feel it is all to no avail?  A Christian author that I respect immensely made the statement that "There is nothing we can do to make God love us any more.  There is nothing we can do to make God love us any less."  The Cross demonstrates the lengths God went to show His love and offer His forgiveness to us!   I can not fathom the depth of God's grace, but I wish to plunge myself in its depths!  Forgiveness...