Forgiven, but not forgotten

Dennis Penner

A year ago last Christmas, I had the opportunity to visit my grandparents in Paraguay for the first time in 15 years. My maternal grandfather was not well. It was not that his body was failing him, though it was not very strong. He was tired, depressed and unhappy with life. We visited with him and my grandmother often during our stay, and he seemed fine for most of that time, but he would have periods when he would talk about being hopeless. He told us repeatedly that he would not be saved, but he would not tell us what he meant.

It was only after we had returned home that we learned the whole story. My grandparents had, many years ago, watered some of the milk that they sold, when they were low. Though my grandfather hadn't done anything himself, he had allowed it to happen. Years later, it was guilt over this that was causing him such grief. He had never told anyone what they had done.

The same Sunday morning that my family and I landed in Winnipeg, my grandfather stood up in church and confessed his sins to the congregation. A few hours later, he died, peacefully.

From what I know of him, he was a faithful and God~-fearing man throughout his life. But the picture I see now when I think of him is of a man brought down with guilt and anxiety over unconfessed sin. But I also see a man who, in those final moments, had the burden taken from him because he confessed his shortcomings and asked to be forgiven.

I've never known a more powerful example of the power of forgiveness, and it gives me pause. It makes me wonder, which is good, because I don't want to forget.

Dennis Penner is a member of Jubilee Mennonite Fellowship in Winnipeg, Man.

Return to the M.B.Herald Vol. 36, No. 3 Home Page