Photo was taken in the Louvre Museum, Paris, France

It is inspiring to watch an artist at work. The attention to detail is always exceptional and so much patience. The artist in our photo was doing a replica of one the huge paintings on display in the Louvre. From what I could see she was doing a mighty job!

Thought on Friday – March – 05/03/2010

‘Somebody hurt you, maybe yesterday, maybe a lifetime ago, and you cannot forget it. You did not deserve the hurt. It went deep, deep enough to lodge itself in your memory. And it keeps on hurting you now. Forgiveness is God’s invention for coming to terms with a world in which, despite their best intentions, people are unfair to each other and hurt each other deeply.’ ~Lewis B.Smedes

Forgiveness is a word that is often spoken about in our Gospels. Jesus says we are to forgive seventy times seven. This is another way of saying that forgiveness is to be part of our lives, woven into our relationships with each other. It has been said that forgiving is love’s toughest work and love’s biggest risk. It is hugely challenging. We live in a fragile and imperfect world. It affects us every day and sometimes extremely so. To forgive someone allows us to take a step forward, a step towards new beginnings. Not to forgive means we stay firmly rooted to the one spot, we never move on and any chance of a new beginning just never happens. If forgiveness is to be a part of our lives and woven into our everyday relationships, then we sometimes have to take the first step to make it happen.