FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY KNOW NOT... Part -1-

Over the course of the last several weeks I have been re-reading dozens of the articles, blog comments and the remarks in the private fellowship found in Face Book. To date we have had more than 18,000 visitors to our blog, 70 topics of discussions in our private Facebook site with more than 260 comments relative to after-care and moving on... Our current membership totals 211 members, many representing a spouse who is also a 'former' so the total may well exceed 300.

I have also looked back on private e-mails received and IMs (instant messages) exchanged, some on a daily basis lasting many months. They speak of a unique spiritual trauma.

The one ‘constant’ thread echoed time and again is the sense of abandonment felt by hundreds of former Salvation Army Officers who share in our fellowship. And, I’m convinced that from what our members have shared, not hubristic sharing, but rather, painfully and tearfully, there are perhaps thousands more hurting from the same sense of abandonment, alienation, and isolation.

The two most common comments shared by our membership are: I felt no sense of gratitude for my many years of service, and there was a total lack of after-care. These comments came from across borders and from each territory represented by our fellowship. And, while many longed for contact with former comrades for comfort they felt unwelcome as no one had reached out to them, taking that first step. And, many in our fellowship have shared that they were shunned when attending SA meetings by corps officers and ‘friends’, even by family members.

Is there any greater pain than the wound resulting from silence? Those we emulated, loved and admired were silent. We struggled then, and still, with the silence of the organizations, the church we served that in an instant took on the attitude of a multi-national corporate entity. Silence is golden, it would seem while for us the silence was deafening. All that was needed were the two words: ‘I care’, a sense of caring we had to find for ourselves:

‘I know He cares for me
I know He cares for me.
I’ll trust my Father in heaven
For I know that He cares for me.

He knows, he knows,
The storms that would my way oppose
He knows, He knows
And comforts every wind that blows.

There are wounds, and there are mistakes, and no doubt guilt and shame that time and separation erases, but not fully. God's given us though, a powerful formula where He says "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14).

I believe that a major component in ‘pressing on’ demands an honest assessment of one’s past. Is it possible that you and I haven’t shown the same forgiveness to those in leadership who we deem as having wronged us, as that which Jesus offers and asks of us? A new beginning means giving His forgiveness to the people who we believe have wronged us and asking for forgiveness from the people we have wronged. The forgiving love of Jesus Christ can banish forever the hurts and wrong-acts of the past. The Bible says, "If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness" (Psalm 130:3 ). That's because every sin we’ve committed or has been done against us was paid for by Jesus on cross, as we’ve all preached time and again in SA halls,

The process of forgiveness essentially consists of an initial step that lead us from our egos back to God. It entails the recognition that what we have attacked and judged against in another is indeed what we may have condemned others of doing. It is precisely because we are so enmeshed in our own ego that the Holy Spirit needs to enter our world of understanding to move us from ourselves to the mind of God.

The General shared in his article, ‘If Crosses Come’, “Let me take this opportunity to say that I hope and pray we will continue to make progress in the way we treat and think about officer colleagues who relinquish officership. Trials come. Some are unavoidable. It is not for us to stigmatise any colleague."

He also shared in his article, “The great 16th century religious reformer, Martin Luther, used to tell his students that it takes three things to form a minister of the Gospel: prayer, study and afflictions." The first two do not surprise us, but the third is unexpected. Luther was right. If we have never known affliction, how can we understand the lot and the lives of our flock?

This existential philosophy question is, in my view, at the heart of our concern; knowing the affliction/suffering, the experiential, the experiences of the individual. How a person experiences life is unique. Relating to others is possible, but only within the limits of shared experiences.

Dr. Sven Ljungholm
Former
Exeter, England

Sven was a senior executive working in the airline industry prior to becoming a Salvation Army officer at age 40. He served with his then wife in the USA, Sweden, Russia, and Ukraine being one of the pioneers who re-established The SA in the former Soviet Union. A90 minute TV special, "THIS IS YOUR LIFE", was broadcast in his native Sweden, and 3 other TV broadcasts (Sweden, the UK) have featured his SA activities. He was a frequent contributor to SA periodicals. Subsequent to resigning from The SA he completed his PhD at Moscow State University and taught for several years at Central Ct. State University, and in the MBA program at 2 other New England universities. Today he continues teaching university courses online and is an active soldier of the Corps at Exeter Temple working with the homeless, encouraging them in the restoration of their lives through weekly Bible Study.