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A few years ago, two first class passengers on a US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Seattle made arrangements to travel with a pet.
Their “therapeutic companion animal” turned out to be a full-grown pig.
Others passengers described the 300-pound hog as “enormous, brown, angry, and honking.”
At first he was seated across three seats toward the front of the plane, but attendants had difficulty strapping him in.
After takeoff, the pig began to saunter through the cabin. He rubbed his nose on people’s legs, begged for food, and tried to coax other passengers into stroking him.
When the plane landed things quickly went from bad to worse. The pig raced up and down the aisle, shrieking and squealing. People stood on their seats. The pig got loose on the concourse and was ultimately trapped in another part of the Seattle airport.
When asked to comment, US Airways spokesman David Castelveter made two statements:
“We can confirm that the pig traveled. And we can confirm that it will never happen again.”
When you think about it, that’s a pretty good starting point for dealing with something that has gone seriously wrong.
It happened, and it will never happen again.
Traditionally this would be called confession and repentance. “I did it. And I promise that my future will be such that we will never have to have this conversation again.” Or at least, by God’s grace, this will happen in my life less and less often.
According to the Bible, there’s a third element that needs to come into play.
I should ask for forgiveness. “I’m genuinely sorry this happened.”
Now the drama shifts to the injured or offended party – in this case, those whose attempts to watch the in-flight movie (was it Babe, perhaps?) were periodically interrupted by a pig snout seeking honey roasted peanuts.
But isn’t forgiving somebody the coward’s way out? Isn’t that just an option for the weak?
Who are we kidding? Only the strong are able to forgive.
Only those who are spiritually tough-minded can embrace an authentic vision for healing and have sufficient inner resources to give up the right to be indignant or angry.
Forgiveness is not an absence of accountability. It’s a courageous decision to refuse to let past mistakes destroy present relationships.
Since those who walk with God are the most forgiven people in the world, shouldn’t we also be the most forgiving people in the world?
You may find yourself thinking, “I’ll forgive the monster who wrecked my life when pigs fly.”
Consider it done.