FORGIVENESS

Could there be beauty in forgiveness? We learned an unexpected example coming from the Holocaust, which came to be known as “the Ravensbruck Prayer.”

It came about like this: Ravensbruck was a German Nazi death camp which was eventually liberated by Russian soldiers. Corrie ten Boom, one of the Dutch prisoners, was kept there and managed to hide a tiny Bible which she wore around her neck and used secretly in the barracks to give a Bible study to other women living there. Through a clerical error she had been released before the Russians came and eventually she became a beloved evangelist to 60 countries.

When the Russian soldiers arrived, they noticed a stone wrapped in a piece of paper which they removed from the stone discovering this message:

O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will but also those of ill will. But do not only remember the suffering they have inflicted on us. Remember the fruits we bear, thanks to this suffering — our comradeship, loyalty, humility, courage, and the greatness of heart that has grown out of all this. And when they come to judgment, let all the fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness.