An apology offered and, equally important, received is a step towards reconciliation. –Margaret MacMillan
Greetings Gentle Reader. As I noted as I concluded PART I, ‘Few things have been denied more often, and more variously, than human freedom.’
Consider ‘Fate’ – the Greek concept of ‘ananke’. Fate is in the hands of the gods – an ancient concept (well, perhaps for some today a current concept). With ‘progress’ it was attributed to divine (Calvin) or physical (Spinoza) determinism, or economic forces (Marx) or the experiences of early childhood (Freud) or genetic determinism (the neo-Darwinians).
The Hebrew Bible (for us Christians and Muslims, ‘The Old Testament’) stresses that if our behavior is no more than the effects of causes over which we have no control, then we, indeed, inhabit a world that is tragically configured. Against ‘Fate-Determinism’ the ‘Bible’ stresses faith – God’s Faith – in ‘Freedom’ [Freedom to… Freedom from… Freedom for…].
Given this, consider that ‘Repentance’ is the proof that we can freely choose and thus transform (transform = a fundamental change in character).
For example. In the ‘Joseph Story’ in Genesis the Judah who offers to sacrifice his freedom so that Benjamin can go free is not the same man he was two decades earlier. IF, each of us (or enough of us) can change ourselves (think, for example, ‘Repent and Reconcile’) we can, indeed, change the world.
Consider that the ‘Joseph Story’ tells the story of man’s faith in God – AND – more significantly it tells the story of God’s faith in man.
The ‘Joseph Story’ brings Genesis to closure by demonstrating that sibling rivalry IS NOT a given in we human’s story. We humans can transform, repent, reconcile and grow physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.
Joseph’s brothers demonstrate that they have transformed when they concretely show that they are no longer willing to let Benjamin (the ‘Joseph-Substitute’) become enslaved (physically and spiritually). And, Joseph, by his act of reconciliation demonstrates that he is not captive of his being sold into slavery (his past) and he is not captive to ‘resentment’ (an ‘eye for an eye’). Joseph’s statement: ‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good,’ demonstrates the power of a religious vision that can then reframe history (remember, Gentle Reader, the root of ‘religion’ is ‘religio’ which means ‘to rebind, to make whole, to heal’).
‘Freedom,’ in a real sense, includes the freedom to reshape our understanding of the past and provides us the opportunity to heal from our legacy of inflicting pain upon one another (and from doing violence to ourselves).
For me, this could not be more significant in the context of the sibling rivalry between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Truly, the past does not dictate nor predict the future. ‘Repentance and Reconciliation’ are available to us siblings. We three siblings have the opportunity to love one another as our God loves us. We have the freedom to choose. God is patient. God is hopeful. God is merciful. God models for us, His children.
In PART III we will revisit the ‘Joseph Story’ and, perhaps, learn more.
Repentance and Reconciliation are decisions that you take in your heart. –Ingrid Betancourt
Searcher-Seeker 