Waffles and Forgiveness

I work for a company in Dallas, one of the joys of which is getting to carpool to work with my mom who works right down the street from me.  I actually do really enjoy our time together on the way to and from work, however, we do not have the same tastes in radio programs (I’m sure that’s just a HUGE shocker to everyone).  So we have a deal where she gets to listen to her talk shows in the morning on the way there and I get to listen to my music on the way home. 

She likes to listen to political conservative talk shows and, despite the fact that I definitely am not a conservative, I do get some insight from listening to good ole Mark Davis in the mornings.  This morning however I found myself bothered.  Mark Davis was talking about some politician who cheated on his wife and who had come out with a public apology asking for forgiveness.  The part that bothered me was Mark Davis’s comment afterwards almost in passing as if it was common knowledge.  He said, “Well, of course I believe there’s a place for forgiveness if it’s been earned.” 

My response was a grunt of disapproval which was answered by my mom saying, “Oh, he’s just talking about in politics!”  Which eased my frustration as I found myself agreeing with her.  For some reason though that stuck with me… he’s just talking about politics. 

It’s interesting to me how I compartmentalize things sometimes.  I think well grace and forgiveness is free in normal life but when it comes to those who have hurt me, nope they have to earn it!  In this case it was thinking that it’s ok for people to have to earn forgiveness in politics.  It reminded me of breakfast food. 

I like waffles, they are wonderful, especially if you have a Grammy like mine who makes the best waffles known to mankind!  I’m not a huge syrup person but my dad likes to fill every single little square with syrup and have it overflowing onto the plate!  I think sometimes our lives can be like waffles and grace/forgiveness can be like syrup. 

We build up walls and hold our forgiveness in one little square of our lives not letting it leak over into the rest of it.  When, in reality, it should be like my dad’s waffle, where God is pouring it into us and we let it fill up every square and spill over onto the plate of others. 

Forgiveness isn’t just for the people who have done enough to get it, if that were the case then none of us deserve it.  We have all been liars and lied to, we have all been heart breakers and heart broken, we have all been sinners and sinned against.  How can we determine who has and hasn’t earned forgiveness.  Jesus even went as far as to say that we should do good to our enemies.  Honestly, I’m nowhere near that point in my life where I could lavish love on those who have deeply hurt me.  I am getting to the point though where I am able to hear their names and not be filled with anger, which for me is a big step in the right direction! 

I think for all of us it’s about retraining our minds to be givers of grace rather than demanders of justice.  Let God load down your waffle with syrup and create a big sticky mess of grace that covers those around you.  You might just find that forgiveness frees more in you than you thought was captive.