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Episode 5
Corrie Ten Boom (1892-1983) helped Jews to escape the Nazi Holocaust during World War II who was later imprisoned for her actions. She shares an inspiring story about forgiveness. “It was in a church in Munich that I saw him—a balding, heavyset man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. People were filing out of the basement room where I had just spoken, moving along the rows of wooden chairs to the door at the rear. It was 1947 and I had come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives.
“It was the truth they needed most to hear in that bitter, bombed-out land, and I gave them my favourite mental picture. Maybe because the sea is never far from a Hollander’s mind, I liked to think that that’s where forgiven sins were thrown. ‘When we confess our sins,’ I said, ‘God casts them into the deepest ocean, gone forever…’
“The solemn faces stared back at me, not quite daring to believe. There were never questions after a talk in Germany in 1947. People stood up in silence, in silence collected their wraps, in silence left the room. “And that’s when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. It came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights; the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor; the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister’s frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were! [Betsie and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland; this man had been a guard at Ravensbruck concentration camp where we were sent.]
“Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: ‘A fine message, Fräulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!’ “And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course—how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women?
“But I remembered him and the leather crop swinging from his belt. I was face-to-face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze.” ‘You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk,’ he was saying, ‘I was a guard there.’ No, he did not remember me. “ ‘But since that time,’ he went on, ‘I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fräulein,’ again the hand came out—’will you forgive me?’
“And I stood there—I whose sins had again and again to be forgiven—and could not forgive. Betsie had died in that place—could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking? “It could not have been many seconds that he stood there—hand held out—but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.
“For I had to do it—I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. ‘If you do not forgive men their trespasses,’ Jesus says, ‘neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.’ “I knew it not only as a commandment of God, but as a daily experience. Since the end of the war I had had a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality. Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars. Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids. It was as simple and as horrible as that.
“And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion—I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. ‘… Help!’ I prayed silently. ‘I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.’ “And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. ‘I forgive you, brother!’ I cried. ‘With all my heart!’ “For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely, as I did then”
Do more than required
Give more than you take. Learn to give yourself away. This principle of walking the second mile is also called the boomerang principle— blessings come back to you in different forms.
A famous physician for many years operated in an amphitheater in the city of New York. Many surgeons from all over the country spent their vacations or part of them just watching him from their high seats overlooking the operating table.
One day when he had finished an operation and was taking off his mask, and as other doctors were leaving, one young man [intern doctor] dropped down to the operating floor and hesitatingly approached the great surgeon, “Doctor, may I ask you a question?”
“Certainly son, what is it?”
“Doctor, doesn’t medical science say, and do not the books teach, that one knot tied in the thread after operation, if tied correctly, is all that’s necessary?”
A genial smile broke over the countenance of the grand old surgeon as he put his arm around the young doctor. “Son, medical books say exactly that. Medical science teaches that. I know what your question is going to be. You are going to ask me why I tied three knots in that thread after I finished sewing up the wounds, aren’t you?”
Smiling, he answered, “Yes, doctor, why three?”
“Son, I’ll tell you a secret since everybody is gone. That third knot is my ‘sleeping knot.’ I am going to wake up in the middle of the night and think about this operation, and run through it quickly, come down to the end of it, and wonder if I tied the thread tight so the wound couldn’t possibly come open, and I am going to remember I didn’t tie one, I didn’t tie two knots, I tied three knots. It can’t come loose, so I am going to smile and turn over and snuggle down in my pillow and go back to sleep. That’s my sleeping knot.
And son, let me tell you a great principle in life. I’m not being original, but if you’ll always tie three knots where you are required to tie one, you’ll find a lot of happiness that you can’t find any other way. It’s a great principle of life. It applies to everything.”
How do you measure up when it comes to applying and practicing the second mile principle? Do you give more than you take? Or do you take more than you give? Do you complain when asked to do things, or do you do them willingly? Do you whine when given a thankless task to do or do you smile? Do you resent being asked to do things that you think others should do? Or do you consider doing things for others and helping others as a privilege?
Hold on to hope
Make your move on doubt, despair, discouragement, depression, and defeat with Himpossible attitude and thinking. Have hope because God is in control and in charge. Hope is what ensures we keep going when all seems lost. Hope is the cornerstone of all actions and achievements. But hope alone is never enough. You need to take responsibility. And you need to take action. Keep hope alive.
One day in 2011, singer-songwriter Crystal Goh woke up with no voice. She was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition called Spasmodic Dysphonia, with no known cause or cure. Two years went by as Goh struggled with this disease. In the midst of her isolation and depression, she wrote a song to remind herself about the importance of hope. And as she began to share this song with others, her voice miraculously started to return. With this renewed belief, Goh and her friends decided to reach out to others who needed to hear this message of hope.
Choose life!
I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live. And love God, your God, listening obediently to him, firmly embracing him. Oh yes, he is life itself, a long life settled on the soil that God, your God, promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Deuteronomy 30:19–20; emphasis mine)
When your landmark changes, when life throws you a curve ball, and when some rain fall on you, remember, reinforce, and recite the Himpossible Thinker’s Creed and see what difference it will make in your life as you encounter trials, difficulties, and failures. Have the courage and confidence as you seek to make your dreams come true. A Himpossible Thinker thinks the incredible, sees the invisible, hears the inaudible, achieves the impossible and becomes unforgettable!
The key to becoming a Himpossible Thinker is to “avoid and apply.” Avoid negative principles; apply positive principles. Another writer puts it this way: “Hear the Word, Speak the Word, and Do the Word.”
Himpossible Thinker’s Creed
When my journey is disrupted
Along a path unexpected
I will not be downhearted
But continue on undefeated
When all my plans are rejected
With my hopes completely shattered
I will not be weak-minded
For soon my dreams will be transcended
Whatever troubles may arise
And all my strength seems paralyzed
I will not be demoralized
Because tomorrow the sun will rise
As I begin to visualize
My problems will soon vaporize
My plans will materialize
When I let God take charge of my life
Closing Remark: In the next episode, I will zoom in on becoming a Himpossible Thinker using the acronym S.E.E.D.
Discussion Questions