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8.17.2005    |    "seemingly out of nowhere"
Interesting story, titled "A Moment of Grace" in today's New York Times, about the forgiveness shown by a victim of a senseless crime. The details are in the story, and its essence is that a woman who had been severely injured forgave her attacker, who begged for her forgiveness.

The woman forgave him, and her compassion had the effect of softening the prosecutor's heart, thereby resulting in a much-reduced sentence. Now we come to the secular media's lack of grace. From the Times story:
That is true. But Ms. Ruvolo's resolute compassion, coming seemingly out of nowhere, disarmed Mr. Spota [the prosecutor] and led to a far more satisfying result.

Many have assumed that Ms. Ruvolo's motivation is religious. But while we can estimate the size of her heart, we can't peer into it. Her impulse may have been entirely secular.
It is certainly possible that her impulse may have been secular. I personally doubt it; it is far more likely that the Holy Spirit was hard at work here, in both perpetrator and victim. It says more about the Times' writer, and the Times itself, when they attempt to leave us with the impression that this was "secular."

Possible. Not likely.

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1 Comments:

Blogger John Schroeder said...

Interesting post -- I have commented further here

8:59 AM, August 18, 2005  

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About this site and the author

Welcome. My name is John Luke Rich, (very) struggling Christian. The focus here is Christianity in its many varieties, its fussing and feuding, how it impacts our lives and our society, with detours to consider it with other faiths (or lack thereof).

Call this blog my way of evangelizing on the internet.

Putting it differently, we're only here on this earth a short time. It's the rest of eternity that we should be most concerned about. Call it the care and feeding of our souls.

I was born Jewish, and born again in Christ Jesus over thirty years ago. First as a Roman Catholic; now a Calvinist by persuasion and a Baptist by denomination. But I'm hardly a poster boy for doctrinal rigidity.

I believe that Scripture is the rock on which all Christian churches must stand -- or sink if they are not so grounded. I believe that we are saved by faith, but hardly in a vacuum. That faith is a gift from God, through no agency on our part -- although we sometimes turn a deaf ear and choose to ignore God's knocking on the door.

To be Christian is to evangelize. Those who think it not their part to evangelize perhaps haven't truly understood what our Lord told us in Matthew 28. We must preach the Gospel as best we are able. Using words if necessary.

Though my faith waxes and wanes, it never seems to go away. Sometimes I wish it would, to give me some peace of mind. But then, Jesus never said that walking with Him was going to be easy...

Final note: I also blog as Jack Rich on cultural, political and other things over at Wrong Side of the Tracks

Thanks for stopping by.