He Frankly Forgave

Yesterday two of my daughters had a little scuffle in the car, and apparently one ended up hitting the other in the eye on the way home from somewhere. I was impressed by what the perpetrator did afterwards: she went and made a little heart with paper and wrote on it an apology note to her sister seeking for forgiveness. There is great power in both asking for forgiveness and offering forgiveness to others even when they hurt us. I was reminded recently of a story that President Hinckley once told about forgiveness that happened in New York. He quoted a newspaper article which told this story: “How would you feel toward a teenager who decided to toss a 20-pound frozen turkey from a speeding car headlong into the windshield of the car you were driving? How would you feel after enduring six hours of surgery using metal plates and other hardware to piece your face together, and after learning you still face years of therapy before returning to normal—and that you ought to feel lucky you didn’t die or suffer permanent brain damage? And how would you feel after learning that your assailant and his buddies had the turkey in the first place because they had stolen a credit card and gone on a senseless shopping spree, just for kicks?” That’s what happened to Victoria Ruvolo, a 44-year-old lady who had a frozen turkey thrown into her windshield by 19-year-old Ryan Cushing. Despite the great harm done to her, she insisted on offering him a deal where instead of serving the 25 years in prison that the law suggested, he would only get six months and probation. She was more interested in helping him than exacting revenge. Here is what happened in court: “Cushing carefully and tentatively made his way to where Ruvolo sat in the courtroom and tearfully whispered an apology. ‘I’m so sorry for what I did to you.’ Ruvolo then stood, and the victim and her assailant embraced, weeping. She stroked his head and patted his back as he sobbed, and witnesses, including a Times reporter, heard her say, ‘It’s OK. I just want you to make your life the best it can be.’ According to accounts, hardened prosecutors, and even reporters, were choking back tears.” What an incredible show of forgiveness from one who had been injured so badly. This story should motivate us to more readily forgive and show love to others, even when they might hurt us. 

               The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary defines the word frankly this way: “Openly; freely; ingenuously; without reserve, constraint or disguise. Liberally; freely; readily.” This word is used only two times in our scriptures, and in both cases it is connected to forgiveness. The first came in a parable of Jesus: “There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both” (Luke 7:41-42). The creditor in this story represents God, and I think this description of frankly forgiving the debtors highlights that the Lord will frankly forgive us as we repent. He forgives us openly, freely, and without reserve, so much that He said this, “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more” (Doctrine and Covenants 58:42). We can have hope even when we make mistakes that the Lord will frankly forgive us as we seek Him. The other use of the word frankly in the scriptures is found in a story about Nephi. As he was traveling back from Jerusalem with his brothers and Ishmael’s family, Laman and Lemuel became angry with him because of his righteousness. He described what happened this way, “They did lay their hands upon me, for behold, they were exceedingly wroth, and they did bind me with cords, for they sought to take away my life, that they might leave me in the wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts.” His brothers tied him up and left him for dead! Instead of becoming angry, though, Nephi reached out to the Lord for strength and was able to burst the bands that his brothers had fastened him with. His brothers were angry with him for that as well, but eventually others helped them calm down and they became sorrowful for their actions. Nephi recorded what he did next: “And it came to pass that I did frankly forgive them all that they had done, and I did exhort them that they would pray unto the Lord their God for forgiveness” (1 Nephi 7:16-21). He openly, freely, and without reserve forgave his brothers who had treated him so harshly and wanted to leave him for dead. That is a powerful example to each of us to strive to frankly forgive though who offend or hurt us. As we strive to forgive in that way, the Lord will bless us with the peace and happiness that failing to forgive takes from us.