taking the plunge

Ezekiel 12:1-12; Psalm 78 Do not forget the works of the Lord; Matthew 18:21-19:1


Yesterday I came across a poem of sorts I thought I would share.

This is a poem by Bill Holm and part of the poem is as follows:

"...we caught the wrong metaphor. Real space is wet and underneath, the church of shark and whale and cod.
The noise of those vast lungs exhaling. The plain chanting of monkfish choirs. Heaven's not up but down, and hell is to evaporate in air. Salvation is to drown and breathe forever with the sea."


The part of the poem that is striking to me is the last sentence, "salvation is to drown and breathe with the sea."

Salvation is to drown....

I like that image of being completely immersed in the Goodness of God, being drowned and enveloped and learning to breathe anew in the newness of life. A place where i no longer have to hold my nose and hold my breath.


What does this have to do with today's readings?

Jesus in the gospel tackles the age old question, "How often must I forgive?"

How many times is too many times? When do I call it quits? When can I just walk away from the one who has wronged me, hurt me, let me hanging? How many times must I forgive? When is enough, enough?

The age old question encounters the age old answer, "seventy times seven."

It is not enough to dip our toe in the waters of forgiveness. It is not enough to go in ankle deep. In order to experience the fullness of forgiveness then we must jump in, we must be willing to drown.

Salvation is to drown and breathe forever with the sea....

We must be fully immersed and learn to breathe anew without holding our fingers on our noses, but plunging and taking deep breaths of that new kind of living where death comes by drowning in forgiveness and new life follows one breath at a time. And the waters of forgiveness awaken us, refreshen us, charge us to life.

Take the plunge, jump in over your head and experience the waves rush over you,

then truly we can begin to forgive from our hearts...

Quote I came across in college that has stuck with me:
"forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heal that crushes it."