After attending the Sunday
worship service a couple of weeks ago, my friend and I decided to take our lunch at the nearest mall from church. I already anticipated the time we spent
in choosing where to eat. It was so hard when both of you were saying…”Ikaw,
ako okay lang kahit saan!” We knew that the best way was to roam around and to
look for the best place to continue our conversation which was basically about
what was latest in each other’s lives. When we finally decided where to eat, we
immediately headed to the direction of that food chain. In my desire to sit in
a good spot, I didn’t realize that I was not looking my way…. And so I bumped
into someone’s left arm.
The bump was like the normal
thing you already encountered when you are running out of time when you’re
heading to school, event, service, etc. Automatically, the word that came from
my mouth was… “sorry”. When I did not get any response, I repeated the word,
“sorry…sorry”, and looked up and saw the person who is obviously taller than
me. Later did I realize that he was holding the hand of his girlfriend, from
whom I got the instant response…. “WEH???”
The word did not load in my mind until I continue walking. I was about to look back just to let them know that I already said sorry (and I meant it), but I decided to be cool and be reflective, instead.
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| WEH? |
The word did not load in my mind until I continue walking. I was about to look back just to let them know that I already said sorry (and I meant it), but I decided to be cool and be reflective, instead.
Many times, we all have the
tendency to respond the same way when someone asks for forgiveness with all
sincerity. Though literally, we don’t say the word “weh?”, our hearts communicate
the same thing. We try to convince ourselves that the person who finally asks
for forgiveness doesn’t mean it; giving us the opportunity to hold back the peace
that they are asking or we enjoy the feeling of superiority, seeing others
suffer emotionally.
It reminded me of our sins and
God’s forgiveness. If God is a God who says “weh?” everytime we say sorry, I
can’t imagine how hard and rude our lives will become. However, God is a
forgiving God. (1 John 1:9) And not until we experience His forgiveness, we
can’t extend the same to others. There
can be people who will ask forgiveness with pretensions and insincere hearts
(sometimes, we can be one of them), but we are not in-charge of them, we can
just trust God when he answered his disciples on how many times they need to
forgive, “…not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:22)
Luke 17:4
“If he sins against you seven
times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, “I repent”, forgive
him.”
Romans 5:8
”But God demonstrates His love
for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for our sins.”