Love and Forgiveness

A couple of nights ago, I had to stay late at work, so I called home to check on my daughter.

As usual, I could hear Julia's voice even before she picked up the receiver to talk to me, and when she did get on the receiver, she started telling me about what she did in school.

Somewhere between her telling me of her perfect score on her seat work in Math and the next story, she suddenly whined "Dada, you come home now"

I answered that I had to work late, and that her mother would be there shortly.

Then she cried, and in between sobs, she told me how my wife had scolded her earlier.

"Mama got mad at me kanina..." she said. When I asked why, Julia answered "Kasi I did not do what she told me to do... I studied outside in the dining room and my cousins were bothering me..."

"So why did Mama get mad?" I asked.

"Because she told me to study in the room so my cousins will not make gulo me while I studied..."

What she said next struck me: "Dada, I'm so sorry...", and she started to cry again.

When I had gotten her to settle down, I asked her why she was apologizing to me.

She said very simply "Because I was not obedient to Mama..."

I guess most of us have a little bit of a Julia inside us. Let me re-phrase that: I know everyone of us has a little bit of a Julia inside us.

We know what God expects of us. From the time we started to form an active, living concept of God, we were told, taught, trained and raised -- either directly or indirectly -- knowing God's laws, commands and expectations of all those He calls His children.

And yet, we hardheadedly (or ignorantly, at times) do what we want, even if we know that it is being disobedient to God.

The first sin of any of Gods' creations was pride. Ask Satan: he deemed himself to be God's equal.

But the first sin of Man was disobedience. And after that one act of disobedience, everything else followed.

But the good news is that God loves us too much to hold this disobedience in front of us forever. All we need to do is sincerely tell Him that we are sorry, and prove it by trying hard not to be disobedient again. He knows that there is a very high probability that we will disobey Him again in one way or another, but He has made it clear that His love and forgiveness is always there for our taking -- all we need to do is accept that which He has already given: Love and forgiveness.

Julia knows this too. She not only knows that she was disobedient, but she clearly knows how she became disobedient. And she knows that we would readily forgive her, and that when we get mad, we get mad because of what she has done and not because of her.

Knowing your fault is the first step towards forgiveness. Admitting it is the next. Seeking pardon starts the reconciliation, and accepting forgiveness completes the cycle.

I told Julia that it was alright, and that Mama was mad at her disobedience and not at her specifically.

"Okay" is all that she could say between sniffs.

After disconnecting the call, I decided to shut down and go home.

A few minutes later, as I stepped out into the reception area, the reception guard called my attention: "Sir, your daughter is on the phone"

I picked up the receiver and asked "What's up, Baby Girl?"

Laughing and half screaming, Julia said "Dada I love you! You go home now!"

Amazing how love and forgiveness can change ones' mood in minutes.

Even more amazing is how a child is able to quickly forget the hurt, accept the forgiveness -- and then start sharing so much love after that.