Celebration of Forgiveness: Chapters 15-16

At the close of the previous chapter, it seems as if Papa, Jesus, and Sarayu have been leading up to a very special event. As we open in Chapter 15, Mack, having been touched by the hands of Sarayu/the Holy Spirit, able to see with God's eyes. He is outside with the three of them, looking up at the cosmos, able to see every single star, planet, galaxy, comet, and meteor as they spin about the heavens. As he looks around, he can see the whole of creation unfolding before him. As he is absorbing its beauty, he notices lights moving up the hill and gathering at one spot. He looks closer and sees they are children of every color, nationality, ethnicity. Behind them, adults of their own lights emerge and join the children. As he looks around, he notices a particular adult whose light changes colors and bursts out into the night, almost as if this man cannot control himself. Sarayu explains that the light is unique to the person. It represents individual personality and emotion. She says they are all here waiting, but not what they are waiting for. Mack asks about the one person whose light and colors are erratic. That person, Sarayu says, is Mack's father.

In the foreword of the book, we find out that Mack's father was an alcoholic, a wife batterer, and an abusive father. When Mack was 13, he confessed to a church youth leader that he yearned to help his mother, but never had defended her or his sisters against his father's beatings. When he got home, his father found out what he had said. His father sent his wife and daughters away, tied Mack to a tree in the backyard, and beat him into submission for two days. When Mack could walk again, he put rat poison in every bottle of alcohol, put a note under his mother's pillow that said, "Someday I hope you can forgive me," and left without turning back.

When Mack finds out this person is his father, the light from his father bursts across the meadow and encircles Mack in ever-changing colors and warmth. Mack runs as fast as he can toward his father, tears streaming down his face. They embrace, and "exchange sobbing words of confession and forgiveness, as a love greater than either one heals them."

They return to the shack/cabin, where we open in Chapter 16. Mack is awoken by a man we have not yet met: older, with white hair in a ponytail and a mustache, a plaid shirt, jeans, and hiking boots. This man is Papa, who says to Mack, "This morning you're going to need a father...Forgiving your dad yesterday was a significant part of your being able to know me as Father today."

They begin to hike up a trail into the mountains. As they are walking, Mack asks Papa why this had to happen to Missy. He answers,

There was no way to create freedom without a cost...I knew that my creation would rebel, would choose independence and death, and I knew what it would cost me to open a path of reconciliation...Could I have prevented what happened to Missy? The answer is yes. First by not creating at all, these questions would be moot. Or second, I could have chosen to actively interfere in her circumstance. The first was never a consideration, and the latter was not an option...all I have to offer you as an answer are my love and goodness, and my relationship with you. I did not purpose Missy's death, but that doesn't mean I can't use it for good.

They continue walking, and Papa stops and sits down for a moment. He says that he is going to show Mack something that will be very painful and difficult. This is about closure. But first, Mack must remove a great darkness from his soul. Mack knows what he is talking about. He must forgive Missy's killer.

Mack is angry and heartbroken. Papa says, "Mack, for you to forgive this man is for you to release him to me and allow me to redeem him...Forgiveness is not about forgetting...It is about letting go of another person's throat...[this man] too is my son, and I wan't to redeem him...Forgiveness is first for you, the forgiver, to release you from something that will eat you alive, that will destroy your joy and your ability to love fully and openly." Mack says he does not love this man. But Papa does, "not for what he's become, but for the broken child that has been twisted by his pain."

Mack wonders if it is alright to still be angry. Papa says that it is absolutely okay! This man has done unspeakable evil and caused immense pain to so many. Anger is the correct response. But anger should not prevent forgiveness. He says,

You may have to declare your forgiveness a hundred times the first day and the second day, but the third day will be less and each day after, until one day you will realize that you have forgiven completely. And then one day you will pray for his wholeness and give him over to me...

So Mack says it. Halfheartedly at first, but again and again, and subsequently with increasing genuineness and conviction. Papa then explains why they are here: to bring Missy's body home. They crawl into a nearby cave, the entrance of which has a small red arc painted on it. Mack picks up his daughter's broken body, holds it close to him, and whispers aloud, "I forgive you...I forgive you..."

So who deserves forgiveness? No one. And everyone. No one deserves the forgiveness of God in their own right--that is what makes grace so beautiful and powerful. But everyone should receive forgiveness from us. This is what Jesus means when he gives the second greatest commandment--to love your neighbor as yourself. To forgive is to remove your hands from around that person's throat, to give up judgment, and release them into the hands of God to be redeemed by Him.