“Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it foregoes revenge and dares to forgive an injury” – Edwin Hubbel Chapin
Whenever we see someone being hurt and oppressed, there is a desire we feel within us to see that justice is done and that the oppressor gets what he or she deserves. We have an innate sense of fairness and we don’t want evil to have the final say.
However, when the one oppressed is able to arise and seek vengeance, there is a certain discomfort at seeing the victim become the oppressor. We are happy to see justice, yet is this really the justice we seek? Is this what the victim ought to become?
While it is true that our hearts want to seek justice, it is also quite true that we often fail to get it in its full substance if we take it upon our own hands. We are weak and vulnerable, and it is only God who can judge and execute His wrath without causing further evil.
It is very difficicult, but we must learn to let go to God what we cannot do on our own. We must trust Him to be just or else we may only fall into our own pain and ruin.
Revenge is mine, and I will repay them in due time… the day of destruction is at hand, and the time makes haste to come. – Deuteronomy 32:35, DRB
Check Jocelyn's books:
"Of Waves and Butterflies: Poems on Grief", "Mend My Broken Heart", "Questions to God", "To Love an Invisible God", "Defending My Catholic Faith", and more - click here.
(You may freely quote excerpts from this website as long as due credit is given to author Jocelyn Soriano and the website itakeoffthemask.com)