Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Black (10/15/09)
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TITLE: Cloak of Darkness | Previous Challenge Entry
By Bill Schwan
10/17/09 -
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As coats were gathered and people began heading for cars, Maddie invited Dana Aldersley to the local Starbucks for an iced mocha and a bit of chat.
“So what’s up?” Dana asked as she gathered a few extra napkins and decided on a table.
“That was going to be my opening question. I want to know what is going on between you and Marla. I’m sensing some tension there that really has no place in a classroom setting.”
Dana closed her eyes and nodded. If it had been that easy to spot, then it was something she needed to talk with someone about. She took a few seconds to muster some courage and looked intently at Maddie.
“Do you remember that problem Elliot and I had about a year ago?”
Twelve months earlier Elliot had come clean about some charges on the Visa that Dana could not identify. That admission led to the eventual collapse of a carefully constructed house of cards that involved Elliot and one Marla Deutche, a financial consultant who had been working with Elliot in his capacity as church treasurer on some annuity options for the pastor’s retirement. Dana quickly recapped the necessary details for Maddie and added the fact that Marla had been the other player in Elliot’s breach of the trust intrinsic in the wedding vows.
“I see,” Maddie said calmly, despite her shock over the revelation. “You know, I was always impressed by the way you and Elliot rebuilt your relationship after the affair. Personally, I don’t know if I would have been able to deal with the unfaithfulness of a spouse as graciously as you did.”
“Don’t let the present fool you into thinking that the reconciliation was easy. Yes I love him unconditionally, but getting to where we are now was real work. Though it was by God’s grace that I finally managed to forgive him, it was not an effortless process. And seeing Marla on so regular a basis has not helped matters.”
“Then do you know why Marla began attending our church? I can’t imagine it being any easier for her than for you.”
“She says she was impressed that I managed to forgive Elliot and wanted to learn how such forgiveness was possible. And to think that in the process she came to know the Lord. I know this probably sounds horrible, but at the time I really didn’t want her to. Now I have to spend eternity with the woman who encroached upon my marriage. It’s really confusing having Marla as close as she now is.”
As Maddie considered her response to this dilemma, she decided that truthfulness would be best.
“I think that this black cloak you’re wearing is not at all becoming.”
“I’m sorry?” Dana asked, slightly confused by the reference to a black cloak when her shawl was clearly hound’s-tooth check, tan and red.
“The black cloak of unforgiveness you are wearing around your soul. You’ve been carrying a bitterness for months now that hides the loving woman I know you to be. I know that you have forgiven Elliot, put the past behind you, and moved on. But like it or not, there is another person involved who is in need of forgiveness.”
“Sure, remind me of things I’ve been wrestling with for a year. Could you forgive the woman who intruded upon your marriage?”
“I’m not sure. But I do know that forgiveness is more for the benefit of the one wronged than for the one who committed the offense. By choosing not to forgive Marla, you remain wrapped in this cloak of blackness that sucks the color from your world. You give the affair total control over your life.”
“But it feels so good to hold on to this little piece of righteous indignation.”
“And feelings are not to be trusted. Forgiveness is an act of the will, not a feeling. Christ didn’t have to go to the cross. He could have let us die in our sins. But there must be some kind of pleasure in forgiveness that he went through what he did to accomplish it. We can see by his example that it hurts like hell to forgive, a truth you learned first hand with Elliot. So what do you do now?”
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Realistic and well written.
I'm skeptical about the wisdom of Marla coming to the same church, and to the more intimate Bible study setting.
The conversation between the two friends was well done.