Grace Traces

Forgive us our debts/trespasses/sins as we forgive our debtors/those who trespass/sin against us. Forgiveness is one of those words within the Christian faith that has a long, complicated history.  I myself can barely say the word "forgiveness" without hearing my mom's voice sternly saying, "Now, say you are sorry."  All of the sudden I am six years old and just broke my brother's favorite toy growing up.  Forgiveness has become synonymous with such emotions as guilt, embarrassment, resentment, and frustration.  Sometimes forgiveness has an "ought" quality to it.  We know we 'ought' to forgive that co-worker for stealing our idea or throwing us under the bus at the last staff meeting, but really we'd rather stay angry for just a little while longer. Of course, a lot of good work has been done around forgiveness too.  We say that forgiveness does not mean forgetting the pain that another person caused us.  Forgiveness means

And give us this day our daily bread Not more than a few days into the wilderness after fleeing Egypt and the Pharaoh, the mud on their feet from crossing the Red Sea still not fully dried, the People of God start complaining to Moses and God about being hungry. And God does not get upset and say, "I just help free you from enslavement!" God doesn't say, as I do sometimes in a proud parenting moment, "Can you just give me one minute?"  Instead God sends bread or manna, which is a fine flaky like substance, kind of like the frost flakes I used to enjoy as a child.  Manna is actually the residue left behind by an insect, sounds tasty, right?  I don't know if Jesus had  Exodus 16  in mind when he offered this phrase, but when I pray this part of the Lord's Prayer it is in the back of my mind.   I connect deeply with the Hebrew people.  Like them, I can get caught in grumbling and mumbling my way through life.  Like them, I can forget about the