Pepper Swanson is a recent graduate of Pacific School of Religion and is currently a candidate for ordination in the UCC. In this sermon, she explored a deeper understanding of the obligation of forgiveness as stated in Matthew 18:21 – 35. She suggested a technique from improv theater that can unleash the healing power of forgiveness, even when confronting something literally unforgivable. Ms. Swanson illustrated this with the following prayer, found on a scrap of paper in the Revensbruck concentration camp in WWII:
“O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will but also those of ill will. But do not remember all the suffering they have inflicted upon us; remember the fruits we have bought, thanks to this suffering, our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, the courage, the generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of this; and when they come to judgement, let all the fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness. Amen.”