Words From The Cross

I'm here Annie. I love these words.

I think it is appropriate to think of the unbelievably courageous French police officer who swapped himself with a hostage.

He has died.

Betrayed, deserted ,denied, mocked, nails through his limbs, thorns pressed on his head.

No cry for revenge . He asks our Heavenly Father to forgive .

Your thoughts ?

My thoughts on these words are simply - How loved we are by him.

Oh whitewave, no! I hadn't heard that. I will pray for his family.

Here Annie,
Father ,forgive those who harm the unborn.

With you Annie. He loves us all unconditionally.

I will try to live by those words annie there are those I must forgive but I can't get past what they did at the moment.
I will try harder.

Seems too hard sometimes. Maybe a good place to start is by forgiving ourselves.?Perhaps by doing that we might then find it that little bit easier to forgive others? So very hard to do.

Yes, I forgive because I cannot believe that the one who gives us so much pain really knows what they are doing. Short term gain will be long term pain because they don't see the longer term results of their behaviour. I will continue to pray for them.

Thank you annie. I pray that we can bring up our future generations so that they do know what they do, and realise the consequences of their actions.

Forgiving seems the hardest thing he asks us to do

Sometimes it's hard to forgive others. Sometimes it's hard to forgive ourselves. I pray for forgiveness for us all.

If you can’t forgive yourself then you can’t forgive others.
Holding on to thoughts of revenge or harbouring grudges for years only harms yourself and becomes soul destroying.
Being able to forgive your killers at the moment of extreme pain and facing death, is not given to all of us to face, and not many if any could do it.
What we can try and do though is forgive more easily, which means not being so thin skinned or precious about
Real or imagined hurt to ourselves.

We are "Flinging wide the gates" in our Stainers Crucifiction
Choir concert tomorrow and singing a "Stabat mater" (grieving mother).
I am not a believer but the music of both pieces is really enjoyable.
As General Booth of the SA said "Why should the Devil have all the best tunes?"

I agree Lemon
But I have things I can't forgive because they have caused hurt to others dear to me, The repercussions are still felt today 20 years later.
If it was just me that had been wronged then maybe.....

Annie yes its so hard isn't it?

WW yes a truly courageous man.
His poor family

Playing devils advocate, should we who are Christians say The Lords Prayer if we cannot forgive ?

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us

Difficult one isn't it x

I see it as praying that we are given the grace to forgive others. Forgiveness comes at a cost to the one who must forgive. I am suspicious when anyone readily and easily forgives.Like grief it has to be worked through.

2nd Word

"TRUELY I SAY TO YOU, TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE"

I find these words comforting

The thief saw what others couldn't see or didn't want to see,

Wonderful words for meditation thank you Anniebach.

With so many of my family gone I pray that they are in Paradise.
In my dreams last night I was with grandfather and uncle (who was like a brother to me) .
All still with me in heart.

Annie even when our eyes are open we can be blind.

Thank you again Annie you are keeping our minds on the real meaning of Easter instead of chocolate and 100 different ways to cook lamb.

They are such simple words which when read one by one become so comforting, give guidance, and his love for each of us pours from them , well I think so ?

Belief is a difficult thing, particularly in this secular and technological world.To believe is to have hope that after death you will see God and whatever comes next.
Belief is for everybody, not simply those living good lives but everybody and it can come early or late in life, it’s never too late.It’s an uplifting thought.