NOTES AND QUOTE

Seventh Sunday Year A

The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.
(Abraham Lincoln)

Those who seek vengeance must dig two graves: one for their enemies and one for themselves.
(Chinese Proverb)

Anger is a very slippery, a very dangerous thing to get involved in because - what does it serve? Who does it serve? Does it just make me feel better, or does it change things? Very often people get caught up in anger which gives them a feeling of energy, but doesn’t actually change them or anything else. That’s what has got to be looked at. And it’s because of that, I think, that forgiveness is always put before us as what we have got to work towards. But, the trouble is that in a sentimental society, people sometimes think forgiveness is just shrugging your shoulders and just saying: “Oh, well that’s alright then.” And it’s not that. It can’t be that. And there are times, I think, when I have to say: “Well, I can’t forgive Anthony Walker’s murderers; it’s for Gee to do that. I don’t know. I stand back. The work of forgiveness has to be between the people most hurt and the people who have been doing the most hurting.
(Rowan Williams)