Forgiveness story

Twenty five years seems like a long time to remember this story life. I have duly forgotten the name of an old man who was a customer on my milk route when I was a twelve year old boy in P. Siantar, North Sumatera back in 1982. Yet it seems like just yesterday that he taught me a lesson in forgiveness that I can only hope to pass on to someone else someday.

On a mindless Saturday afternoon, a friend and I were throwing kasti (children's game similar to baseball) onto the roof of the old man's house from a secluded spot in his backyard. The object of our play was to observe how the kasti changed to missiles as they rolled to the roofs edge and shot out into the yard like comets falling from the sky.

I found myself a perfectly smooth kasti and sent it for a ride. The kasti was too smooth, however, so it slipped from my hand as I let it go and headed straight for a small window on the old man’s back porch. At the sound of fractured glass, we took off from the old man’s yard faster than any of our missiles flew off his roof. I was too scared about getting caught that first night to be concerned about the old man with the broken porch window.

However, a few days later, when I was sure that I hadn't been discovered, I started to feel guilty for his misfortune. He still greeted me with a smile each day when I gave his the milk, but I was no longer able to act comfortable in his presence. I made up my mind that I would save my milk delivery money, and in four weeks I had the Rp. 66.500,- that I calculated would cover the cost of his window.

I put the money in an envelope with a note explaining that I was sorry for breaking his window and hoped that the Rp. 66.500,- would cover the cost for repairing it. I waited until it was dark, snuck up to the old man’s house, and put the envelope of retribution through the letter slot in his door. My soul felt redeemed and I couldn't wait for the freedom of, once again, looking straight into the old man’s eyes.

The next day, I handed the old man his milk and was able to return the warm smile that I was receiving from his. He thanked me for the milk and said, "Here, I have something for you." It was a bag of cookies. I thanked him and proceeded to eat the cookies as I continued my route.

After several cookies, I felt an envelope and pulled it out of the bag. When I opened the envelope, I was stunned. Inside were the Rp. 66.500,- and a short note that said, "I'm proud of you."

Is there someone in your life that you've never gotten around to forgiving, either in person or in your heart? Do the right thing...the weight off your shoulders is immeasurable. Forgiveness is a wonderful thing to receive and to give.