A woman was waiting at an airport one night,
With several long hours before her flight.
She hunted for a book in the airport shop,
Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.
She was engrossed in her book, but happened to see,
That the man sitting beside her, as bold as could be,
Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between,
Which she tried to ignore, to avoid a scene.
She read, munched cookies, and watched the clock,
As the gutsy “cookie thief” diminished her stock.
She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,
Thinking, “If I wasn’t so nice, I would blacken his eye!”
With each cookie she took, he took one too.
When only one was left, she wondered what he’d do.
With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh,
He took the last cookie and broke it in half.
He offered her half, as he ate the other.
She snatched it from him and thought, “Oh brother,
This guy has some nerve and he’s also rude.
Why, he didn’t even show any gratitude!”
She had never known when she had been so galled,
And sighed with relief when her flight was called.
She gathered her belongings and headed to the gate,
Refusing to look back at the “thieving ingrate.”
She boarded the plane and sank in her seat,
Then sought her book, which was almost complete.
As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise:
There were her cookies in front of her eyes.
“If mine are here,” she moaned with despair,
“Then the others were his and he tried to share!”
Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,
That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief!
Though this poem captures my sometimes indignant attitude at the wrongdoings of others, and my delayed realizations that I could actually be at fault, I didn’t write it. I found this poem in a book I’m reading right now: Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney. (A fantastic book, which I highly recommend!)
Have you been humbled like this before? Have you ever gotten so worked up about the awful things someone did or said, only to realize later that you were at fault, or really didn’t know the whole story?
I seem to be in a period of forgiveness right now. Me forgiving others, and others forgiving me. And there are some hurtful things that I’m experiencing in friendships, but God is continuing to remind me to forgive. Not out of my own strength. Not because it’s “the right thing to do.” Not because I want other people to think that everything is just peachy-good.
But because God, in Christ, has forgiven me. And the worst offenses that anyone ever has or will commit against me couldn’t even come close to my offenses against God!
Sometimes it seems like the easier path to just be “done” with a relationship. Or go into “peachy” mode, making sure appearances are good. And while those options might be easier, they are bad roads to travel. When you choose that path, you choose to harden your heart to God. You’re telling Him, “I don’t want to be like You, don’t want to be transformed into Your image. It’s more important to me to hold this grudge.”
Let me exhort you: choose the path of life! Your life will be richer, fuller, and more joyful when you choose to forgive, as God has forgiven you. Even if the other person doesn’t respond the way you hope they will, God is still at work in your heart. What a great reward… experiencing Him in a deeper way because of the trials He brings you through!
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:31-32
