The Heart of the Matter: Forgiveness

Editors note: This was written Monday, and I forgot to post it until now. Oh well.

Last night I went to Upper Room for the first time in a really long time. I knew the church was having a guest speaker who had appeared on PBS – so I was intrigued by what she may have to say. The topic of the evening was forgiveness, and apparently the woman speaking had severely struggled with this topic for a good part of her life – having been abducted, raped and tortured as a teenager.

When I arrived at the service, they introduced the night’s guest speaker as Debbie Morris. Ms. Morris’ story is more widely known than I thought. It turns out her abductor was Robert Willy – the man Sean Penn portrays in Dead Man Walking. The night Debbie was abducted she was 16 and was in her car eating ice cream with her boyfriend Mark. Robert Willy and another guy put a gun to her head, brought them to some undisclosed location, tortured her boyfriend and left him for dead. Debbie was raped and tortured for 30 hours before she persuaded them to let her go. During the time Willy and Co. held her captive, Debbie realized they had been responsible for the murder of 18 year-old Faith Hathaway just a few days earlier. Amazed she had not been murdered like Faith; Debbie rushed back to her family to explain what happened. Miraculously, Mark was found alive – though he was paralyzed on his right side for about six months.

Anyway, so Debbie is a Christian, and at Upper Room, she spoke about her journey of forgiveness. How she had to forgive Robert Willy and his sidekick, and how hard it had been, but yet how freeing it was at the same time. She kept saying how forgiveness wasn’t for him – her perpetrator – but rather it was for her. I thought it was so amazing how God worked to heal a pain as deep as hers. She said that for her to stand up and speak about the situation with no pain was indeed a miracle – and just a testament to how truth and obedience can set you free—even if it seems impossible. She also spoke about Sister Helen – the nun Susan Sarandon portrayed in Dead Man Walking. Debbie said she hated Sister Helen at first, she didn’t understand what they were doing. Finally, she decided that if Sister Helen was indeed doing God’s work, then it would not only be good for Robert Willy, but it would be good for her as well. Debbie called Sister Helen up one night to see if her motivations were indeed pure (motivations for not only guiding Willy, but writing her book about it). She said they had the most wonderful conversation, and they are now dear friends. They even speak together about the situation on occasion.

Point of the above few paragraphs is this: It’s amazing what God can do when we obey him even when it hurts, and even when it seems to go against human rationale. If Debbie hadn’t forgiven her captors, she would still be in their captivity. However, she followed the truth of forgiveness—even though it must have been harder than I can even fathom—and that truth set her free