One of my friends recently mentioned a strong forgiver, Corrie Ten Boom, from World War II. What did she do that was so forgiving and, if this was in the context of forgiving the enemy, would this even be appropriate?
Corrie Ten Boom survived a concentration camp during World War II. She wrote a book, The Hiding Place, about her experiences. Following the war, she was in a German church talking about the virtues of forgiveness. After the talk, people came up to greet her. Much to her horror, the SS officer who abused her years ago extended his hand to her, asking for forgiveness. She did not want to grant it. She then said a quick prayer and, as she reports, she felt something like an electrical surge go through her right arm and so she was able both to shake his hand and at the same time to offer a love for this man that surprised even her. Without debating the issue of prayer here, she did experience something that day that was genuine forgiveness and was both sudden and complete. The more you practice forgiveness, the more easily you will be able to practice it in a genuine way, at least at times and for certain circumstances.
The experience of forgiving by Corrie Ten Boom definitely looks legitimate to me. After all, the experience was still with her long after the event as she wrote clearly and passionately about it in her now very popular book. Even if others disagree with her choice to forgive a Nazi officer, this was her own free will choice to do so. Thus, it is an appropriate act of forgiving.
