I count myself blessed
by a radio moment I shall never forget.
Each word that I heard
as their testimony unfurled
blew me further away
from the selfish concerns
of my insignificant world.
How could that one
forgive the unforgivable?
How could the other
earn the undeserved?
How could they make
their desolate lives livable?
My throat constricted
more the more that I heard
from these resilient spirits –
trying hard to choke back the tears it
seemed my ears pumped
from my heart’s bottomless reserves.
Like water from aquifers –
feeding my amazement,
growing my reverential awe
by showing me death, time and remorse
could bring forth a pure
and honest love.
A love a repentant murderer could profess
and have received by his victim’s mother,
who in turn would confess the same
and freed from the grip of her pain call this man “son.”
- HymnAgen
Listen to their testimony here:
http://www.npr.org/2011/05/20/136463363/forgiving-her-sons-killer-not-an-easy-thing