366 Forgiving

Written about the story a friend and filmmaker had just made about compassion and forgiveness in the atrocities of war

https://youtu.be/HE4wPU1ik0o

On the 26th of August, 2014 a mother faced her husband's killer
She faced him without malice, without hatred, with deep compassion
20 years since the murder, her children had now grown without a father
She simply looked him in the eye and said I forgive you for your sin

You have hurt me deeply but how can I repay hate with aught but love
Do reflect on what you have done, and release yourself from its grip
By forgiving, we offer a chance to begin new, so soar like a dove
For its only love that can rehabilitate you from the dregs of this killing trip

I don't know what the court at Vauniya decreed, mayhap it matters not
Much, for in those powerful words "I forgive you", is a grace
From a forgiving mother who's seen her land torn and shot
She's seen hatred destroy victim's lives, maligning their very face

Blessed are we who have never faced an ordeal of this magnitude
Our losses small, but we hear stories like this and our hearts swell
We wonder why on Earth did two tribes ever have to fight and feud
The thought sticks out of the one's who forgive and wish criminals well

I've been begged to teach kindness and forgiveness in our classroom
Children are so ready to learn of powerful feelings that can heal
They're pained at the thought of war and malice that spell our doom
So let's tell them the tale of this lady whose love they can surely feel