Corrie Ten Boom on Forgiveness
When I lived in Holland, I had the opportunity to visit the Corrie Ten Boom House, in Haarlem, just outside of central Amsterdam. My visit here lingers in my memory as one of the most significant trips I have made. Corrie and her family risked their lives, and some ultimately lost their lives, trying to save Jews from the Holocaust and others from the brutality of the Nazis. Corrie's is a story of intense bravery, hope and ultimately forgiveness. You can read more about her here.
The Ten Boom family created a 'Hiding Place' in Corrie's bedroom a space only 30 inches deep, hidden behind a brick wall, accessed by a sliding panel at the bottom of a row of bookshelves, it was accessed on hands and knees. Although the Ten Booms ultimately were compromised the hiding place was never discovered.
Standing in this tiny space, where up to seven people would have hidden at any one time, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. I barely had room to turn around, let alone sit down. A sense of hope filled my mind - maybe it was the traces of the hope felt by those who hid, for fear of their lives.
Corrie and her family were imprisoned in German Concentration Camps - her Father and sister died in the camps - Corrie survived and spent the rest of her life talking & writing about the power of forgiveness. Her words have touched my life again and again.
Today I have chosen to share some words by Corrie herself which I believe show how brave you need to be to forgive, as opposed to seek revenge. Although I knew this story, I was reminded of it when I read these words on Noel Kenny's Facebook,and I knew immediately I had to share it with you.
Corrie Ten Boom on 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 favorite 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”
(excerpted from “I’m Still Learning to Forgive” by Corrie ten Boom. Reprinted by permission from Guideposts Magazine. Copyright © 1972 by Guideposts Associates, Inc., Carmel, New York 10512>).
That's it for now ...
Nics
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Reader Comments (5)
I've heard this story before but forgotten some of the details. Amazing, thank you for sharing it.
Your welcome, I am glad you enjoyed it. I find it challenging and inspiring in equal measure.
I'm putting Corrie Ten Boom's house on my list of places I want to visit (may as well dream!). Reading this triggered my memories of the evening I heard Corrie speak, years ago. What a privilege to hear her relate this experience in her heavy accent to us in America. Indelible memory for me. Thanks for sharing this post, Nics!
Wow Sharon, what an amazing experience to have heard Corrie speak. D
Definitely dream Sharon of going to Holland, I hope you do get to go someday. The Ten Boom House has such an anointing it is incredible.
I am just thinking of powerful it would have been to hear Corrie herself share this story - really amazing, a once in a lifetime experience, I guest.