Lessons from the Lawn IV: Father Forgive Them…

Spring has arrived along with the beginning of lawn care. The fertilizer has been applied, and the grass was coming back, plush, think and green. I had cut the grass once for the season and it was time for a second cut, but my schedule did not accommodate me cutting in a timely fashion. lawn_forgivenessI left early one Saturday morning for an event, arriving late at night.

From a distance, I could see clumps of grass in my driveway, a sign that someone had cut my grass. Before I go on, I must tell you that in my 8 years living here, my lawn has only been cut by someone other than me twice. Once when I was gone for a week, and a second time when my mower needed repair. The second time, the person mowing my lawn asked where my property ended, as he looked at the back yard he simply said, oh, I guess it’s where the dark green grass ends and commented it was the nicest lawn they had mowed. So when I arrived at home and my headlights shown on the portion of the lawn which was cut, and I saw the condition after it was cut, I was a little upset (okay, more than I should have been).

My entire lawn was not cut, just the portion between the sidewalk and the road. As I looked in dismay at how the areas of my lawn which were cut (shorter than I normally cut it) looked, I began to think that they had just moved in about a month ago. They don’t know how much I take care of my lawn and as they cut their portion of that patch of grass, I have to believe that they thought they would be nice and cut the whole area, including my portion. While they felt they were doing good, it was “painful” for me to see and I wish they had not done it.

That led me to think of the words of Jesus on the cross when He said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”. No, my lawn does not compare to what happened to Jesus as He was placed on the cross, but in the same way, we need to forgive others. We may not understand the entire situation and they may be well meaning. I could be angry and confront them in a condemning way, or I can see the good they intended, and forgive, understanding that they did not know what they were doing.

Forgiveness is not always easy to give, but we must forgive as God has forgiven us.