TO FORGIVE IS DIVINE
        
              We live in such exciting times.  This week the Prime
        Minister of Israel and the head of the Palestine Liberation
        Organization will meet in Washington D.C. and sign a historic
        agreement to acknowledge each others "right to exist."  
              What they are telling the world is what has gone on before
        need not continue.  It is truly a healing of the people.  Jesus
        said, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." 
        In the Koran's Sura 1, it is written, "But Allah (God)...who
        forgives and guides individuals and nations, and turns to good
        even what seems to us evil, never forsakes the struggling soul
        that turns to him, nor groups of men and women who join together
        to obey his will...."
              It would seem that both the Palestinians and the Israelis
        are finally heeding the words written in these great Books of
        Faith.  Will this be enough?
              Ironically, it was a Swedish foreign diplomat who
        successfully negotiated the peace between these two warring
        factions.  Where was our Secretary of State?  True, the signing
        of the peace accords will be in Washington, but somehow, it would
        be appropriate that Sweden take some of the credit for this
        latest experiment in peace.
              In order to make peace, the Israelis and Palestinians had to
        forgive one another.  Certainly, there is much that needs to be
        forgiven.  Countless deaths in the past few years in the Gaza
        Strip and the occupied Left Bank could have undermined any chance
        of peace.  Yet these individuals chose to forgive one another.  
              Some of this seems to be far removed from us.  Forgiveness
        is not a foreign element.  There is a great need for forgiveness
        in this nation as well.
              What is forgiveness?  It seems to me to be the agreement
        between individuals or people that what has gone before need not
        continue.  We are encouraged in the Bible to forgive at least
        seven times seventy.  Keeping track of how often we forgive is
        not what is necessary only that we continue to do it.
              Forgiveness appears in many human behaviors.  It is donating
        a pint of blood to a stranger.  It is welcoming home the prodigal
        son or daughter who returns after some years of alienation from
        the family fold.  It is the joy experienced in watching a child
        smile as he or she accepts the love of those around him or her. 
              Forgiveness is not something we can count.  It is like the
        earth we walk on, the air we breath, the witnessing of the rising
        and setting sun.  It is all around us.  
              Perhaps the Hatfields and McCoys should take note and end
        their dispute.  Protestant and Catholic Irish folk continue to
        strike out at one another with no apparent end in sight to their
        strife.  Somalia, South Africa, and countless other troubled
        spots on the earth need a touch of peace, a resolution to "bury
        the hatchet" and live in harmony with the earth, the sun, the
        wind, and one another.
              Forgiveness is more than anything, God in each and every one
        of us.  When it is missing, we are removed from God, from Allah,
        from Yahweh, from the Higher Power.  It is not easy to forgive, 
        as Alexander Pope wrote, "To err is human, to forgive divine."  
              Yet two nations choose to forgive.  Prayers are being
        answered in many homes in Israel and in the Arab world.  My
        notion is that the prayers of countless muslim, christian, and
        hebrew people are being answered.  
              In the past few days, I've heard some individuals pooh-pooh
        the activities slated for Monday September 13, 1993 in
        Washington.  I'm not sure why.  I guess there are many
        individuals who might profit from the continued discord between
        these people or any others.         Considering that America is the
        number one exporter of defensive weapons, I'm sure that peace
        means economic loss for some people.  This is a sad but true
        commentary on our times.  
              So the Israelis and Palestinians are truly preparing to
        "beat swords into plowshares."  In their courageous efforts,
        those of us who sit safely on the sidelines watching can       
        support the effort by praying for these former enemies coming
        together to talk rather than fight about their differences.
              When you and I think about it, the only thing that separates
        any of us from the other human beings of the world, beside
        geographical distances, is our unwillingness to understand one
        another and to forgive past transgressions, and live by the
        universal commandments - The Golden Rule.