St Andrew Kim Tae-gon and companions, martyrs

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
 for his love has no end.
Let the sons of Israel say:
 'His love has no end.'
                      Psalm 117

.                 .                .

I don't suppose considering the endless love of God two days running counts as monotony. After all, it is pretty amazing to ponder. I did a lot of listening to a number of people talking about theology (some even about God's love) today; By far the most interesting thing I heard was the idea that forgiveness is like love. Seems obvious, when you think about it, doesn't it? The point that the speaker was making was that if we conceive of forgiveness as an event, we're bound to be frustrated when it doesn't happen in an over-and-done-with way. If, instead, we understand forgiveness as analogous to love, we see immediately that it isn't that sort of thing. Yesterday I reflected that all love comes from God. It makes sense to think of forgiveness in the same way: as coming from God and not, ultimately, from ourselves.

I'm not at all certain that makes forgiving any easier. But it does give me hope that it is possible, not because I think I can do it but because it doesn't matter that I can't. Dwelling on the memory of wrongdoing or staring into the face of the wrongdoer (if only in my mind) and trying to conjure up 'forgiveness' will not do. Only the One whose love has no end can supply it. My task is to turn again (and again and again) and receive forgiveness, until my broken heart overflows.