At first glance this appeared to be a historic romance, of the kind my wife enjoys. Admittedly, not generally the sort of film I jump at the opportunity to watch. But recently, on one particularly lazy Sunday afternoon, Liz and I sat down to watch this together. My expectations were quite low going in - in fact I didn't even realize that it was based on the actual events of the Pennsylvania schoolhouse shooting in October of 2006.
Theatrically
Amish Grace was passable, but it is a film that takes several steps beyond the importance of production values. It presents as both a social commentary and a rather poignant reminder of just how starkly painful forgiveness can be.
Of late, the Lord has been teaching me a great deal about the value, importance and necessity of Biblical forgiveness. I am struck by how timely it is that I saw this movie; and by the beautiful example of forgiveness presented by the Amish community at Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. The response of the community was a Biblical one, centered on honoring God alone. They shed their own feelings and natural response of hatred and, as best as they knew how, forgave as God has forgiven. The media, indeed the world, could not comprehend this response. Perhaps, even much of the Christian church had difficulty processing what had been done in forgiving the man who had torn their world apart. In this depiction of their actions we can learn a great lesson from these humble folk.
"And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." ~ Ephesians 4:32
We live in a world that is not accustomed to such behavior; so much so, that when something like this happens it is (shamefully) a stark contrast to the
humanism that has crept into our Christian lives of ease and comfort. Our responses to mistreatment, judgement and hatred are no different than the rest of our culture - and it should not be so. I should be seeking to live a Godly life, and unexpectedly so.
"If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For so you will heap coals of fire on his head, And the Lord will reward you." ~ Proverbs 25:21-22
Hatred is a selfish response to a suffering. I found the following dialogue from the film to be extremely thought provoking and seated in wisdom;
Katie "I hate that man too, he did a bad, evil thing; and I hate him more than anything."
Gideon "He did do an evil thing, and I don't blame you for hating him; and you can hate him for as long as you like. But tell me, this hate that's inside of you - how does it feel? Does it feel good?"
Katie "... not very good"
Gideon "No. Hate is a very big, very hungry thing with lots of big teeth; and it will eat up your whole heart, and leave no room left for love. We are lucky that God understands this. He is the one that will hand out the punishment so that we don't have to carry all this terrible hate around inside of us if we don't want to. If we are willing to forgive."
It's a powerful truth, and indeed it is one thing as Christians for us to nod our heads and say, "yes indeed"; it is quite another to live it out as did these gentle people in the deepest possible pain of their lives. They knew that the
sovereignty of God, the Grace of God, indeed the Love of God was sufficient for them and to exercise hatred toward this man and his family would simply not be honoring to God. For God's sake alone they placed themselves in His hands completely. Would that I could have that much Faith in my Savior.
Gideon "Forgiving ... doesn't mean forgetting, it doesn't even mean a pardon. We know that Charlie will stand before a just God. But we also know that if we hold onto our anger and resentment, then it is only ourselves that are being punished."
I've had a misconception of forgiveness. I have believed in my heart that if I forgive, I am condoning or baring the responsibility of the actions of another; that I am approving everything that is done against me, and in doing so dismissing myself in the process. This is not the case, as we are taught in scripture, it is our place to forgive injustices done against us; without any caveat or demands. We must forgive as we have been forgiven. Before God our sins are equally egregious, yet as believers we are forgiven, we must therefore forgive or make ourselves out to be the worst kind of hypocrite.
"But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away." ~ Isaiah 64:6
I am reminded of a quote from my Bible School days, one of our instructors spoke on the condition of our hearts saying;
"Our greatest deeds are nothing more than splendid sin" ~ David Doherty
When I find myself forgetting to forgive, I must remind myself of a rather well known passage of scripture;
and although this speaks of judging a fellow Christian, the truth of it is applicable in context of my relationship to the world at large.
"And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." ~ Matthew 7:3-5
The point is that we are not yet perfect, and will not be until we are with Him in heaven. God is the perfect judge, and it is most certainly not our place to do so.
It is ours to release our hatred to God; that it is for Him alone to judge according to His law.
"But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God," ~ Romans 2:5
As I begin to learn that which the Lord has for me to learn of forgiveness, the actions of the Amish community at Nickel Mines, as illustrated in this film, has served to show me just how difficult, yet possible in Christ, it can be to forgive - and more importantly, how vital it is to my relationship with Him!
a blindness.
"dust and plank, speck and board, a breach of what you can’t afford."
I think perhaps the only way to learn of forgiveness is to, in His Strength, begin to do so, as He has commanded. Forgiveness is releasing self to Him and resting in His Grace.
It is my most hearty recommendation that you take the time to watch this film. Avoid criticism of production values and allow yourself to witness the true story of forgiveness depicted. It may just speak to you, as it did me, about forgiving as God has forgiven.
As great an example of forgiveness as this movie is - for a greater example still, read the Gospel -
John is a good place to start. God came to Earth and suffered and died at the hands of mankind - as a sacrifice for forgiveness; as a sacrifice for us; that through Him we might be reconciled to God the Father. The example of forgiveness given us by Christ should serve to catch us up when we refuse to forgive.
Stage 1: We have two wells, the newest of the wells (with the greatest capacity) has a significant sodium content. The older of the two wells is only affected by sodium after it reaches a certain level of consumption. The new system has been connected to the larger of the wells, and the smaller (older) well will be used strictly as a redundant well in case of emergency. The water enters the building to the left of the larger pressure tank and is at that point separated into water that will be treated and water that will not be treated. The potable (treated) water will service the kitchen faucets, the coffee machine, the water fountain and the kitchens of the outer cabins; while the untreated water will service everything else (toilets, showers etc.)
Stage 2: The water to be treated will then enter this softening unit, known as an air-induction system. This system will remove iron and sulfur prior to the water entering the next stage.
Stage 3: The water will then enter this unit, known as reverse osmosis treatment. It travels through a 5 micron sediment filter and two carbon block filters prior to entering the "RO" chamber (the horizontal stainless cylinder at the back).
Stage 4: The water leaves the reverse osmosis unit and is deposited into this 100 gallon reservoir. At a later time I will be installing an air injection system in this reservoir to keep the water fresh.
Stage 5: The water will only leave the reservoir when it is called for from one of the destination points. The pump at the lower section of this image is an on demand pump that will transfer water from the holding tank as needed. It will distribute the treated water to the outer cabins through the shut-offs as required.
Stage 6: The water that will be remaining in the main building will then travel through this ultraviolet light cylinder and will kill any remaining bacteria that may have survived the treatment process. It is our hope, in the future, to install UV units like this one in the outer cabins as well.
