Forgiven Debts
How old were you when you learned The Lord's Prayer?
“When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. - Matthew 6:7-15
I remember having to memorize the prayer for Catechism class. Maybe I was seven years old?
I learned it with the word trespasses instead of debts. I don't know if I even understood what trespasses were. I might have understood debts, though. I know we had debts. Dad was always trying to find ways to pay them off, while accumulating new ones.
No one ever forgave our debts, and I am sure we didn't hold anyone else's debts, so we could not have forgiven them.
Forgiving trespasses seemed easier to me. Kids were always cutting through our yard. That was trespassing, right? I didn't even consider that something bad that needed forgiveness. It is just what we kids did.
We trespassed on each other's property all the time. Of course we knew each other and it was all part of the fun we had together.
If I borrowed a nickel from one of my friends for a candy bar (yes they were a nickel back then), he might tell me to forget it, and I wouldn't have to pay him back.
Then if I had money for ice cream, I might share it with him.
Maybe that is what Jesus wants us to remember, how we were as kids, when trespasses and debts were easy to forgive.
One could argue that the size of the debt or the severity of the trespass could make it harder to forgive, but a nickel was a lot of money to a seven year old, so I doubt that size really matters.
Unless, of course, we are talking about the size of our egos.
As we get older, they grow with us, and make our decisions harder. So, perhaps we need to remind ourselves what we were like when we were in control and our egos were young and immature, back when debts were easy to forgive.
More to come...