Forgiveness breaks the cycle

An excerpt from a Boundless article about the 2006 Amish shooting in Lancaster Country. The wiki account is here.

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Hope and Healing Among the Amish
by Jenny Schroedel

As the Grandfather of one of the girls prepared her body for burial, he encouraged the young boys around him to seek to forgive the man who had taken his granddaughter's life. "His words came naturally to him because they are the reflection of how he has lived over the course of a lifetime," wrote Gregory Jones in the Charlotte Observer. "They startle many of us who live in the midst of violence, who tend to harbor desires for vengeance, even if we do not act them out violently."

Ultimately, forgiveness is not a denial of wrongs committed, but a willingness to accept that there are things that we cannot undo or even understand. It a deeply humble act, as we offer up the work of executing justice to God. The Amish realize that it is not their job to carry bitterness to the grave. As a child psychologist friend of mine, Russell Carleton, said, "When you forgive someone, their act no longer defines your life."

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I'm having a very hard time digesting past acts, and these words hit me hard.

It's so hard to be humble enough to accept that there are things that cannot be undone or understood.