Unforgiven
Clint Eastwood, in his Oscar-winning film, Unforgiven, tells the story of Will Munny, a formerly hard-drinking gunslinger retired and reformed by his virtuous wife. His debauched past faded as he enjoyed life with Claudia and their two small children, but was not erased from his mind.
Munny’s unsuccessful farming venture worsened when Claudia died, and he became a tortured soul, grieving for his wife, clinging to her values and mourning the misdeeds of his former days. For him, the past was a living reality. As he never knew true relief and release, he eventually returned to drink, murder and lawlessness.
And there the story ends.
Remorse serves a purpose in our lives. It can lead us to reformation. Lessons learned can be good for us, even if they hurt a little. The burned hand teaches best.
Humanly, we want others to be sorry for the wrong they have caused and suffer for it (after all, they deserve it) though it may not be what we want for ourselves. In our best moments, we realize that penance is necessary on the home front, as well. Some even make suffering a badge of honor, craving it to the satisfying of conscience. Somehow, if we hurt more, we hurt less. We all want to be able to do something to balance the scales because we all feel guilty.
Raised with and maintaining a conservative approach, I’d like to strike a blow against the punitive nature, albeit a glancing one. Unresolved grief and guilt do great damage in life. They become more than obstacles on the way to wholeness- they become barriers to. Wounds that never heal. Functionality is not restored because the offender cannot leave the past behind.
No one wants to live in remorse, indeed, no one can live that way. Consider Christian in The Pilgrim’s Progress whose former name was Graceless. What freedom he felt when the great weight of sin he carried on his back rolled away at the cross! What great bondage we feel when we trudge through life unforgiven.
Where there is great sin, there is greater grace. That’s in the Bible. No one should go through life believing that their misdeeds are beyond forgiveness. Sins may remain painful memories but ones overshadowed by the love of God and sacrifice of Christ. They may even bring praise and joy to the soul fitting the penitent for service to others drowning in guilt.
God could have left us to a tortured, sin-cursed life on earth and an eternity in torment apart from Him, but He didn’t. He gave us grace when we didn’t deserve it. Grace brings forgiveness and freedom. God doesn’t want us to live in defeat.
If we cannot escape the past, we will repeat it. But we cannot free ourselves. Even others cannot free us. Only Jesus can do that. He will if we follow Him to freedom. On our parts, we can model the grace of God and extend helping hands becoming conduits of grace.
We should want for others what we want for ourselves that one day we can truthfully say, “I sinned, but I repented. Now, I am forgiven.”
And there the story ends.
Sterl