I appreciated Rev. Munger's sermon on forgiveness this Sunday. I have seen so much hurt in families and the church due to the inability of a person to forgive what they see as an insult to themselves. I know a family where the father died and a daughter who had visited her mother and father every day until he died took offense at something her mother said and after several years has not been able to go see her mother or her brother and forgive each other. Her mother is apologetic but the daughter can't find a way to forgive.

I have seen a number of church members get offended by what a preacher or some other person in the congregation has said either in jest or inadvertantly making a comment that hurts someone. The hurt person leaves the church and when I asked them why they don't forgive and return they comment that they are not going to let themselves be hurt again. As Rev. Munger said the Lord is not an accountant and told us not to keep track but forgive seven times seven which is a lot of times to forgive someone that you feel is hurting you.

I want to tell them to read Matt. 6: 14-16 where Christ explains clearly why the statement to forgive is in the Lord's prayer in the early verses of Matt. 6. If you feel that you can't forgive someone who has wronged you, read those two verses carefully and rethink your position.

PRAYER CONCERNS

I requested that two people be added to our prayer concern list. I would like to add some information about them. Dr. James Olney and his wife Teri, both have cancer and live in Granbury. Jim was the District Superintendant of the Brownwood District that included my home church of Cross Plains. He was forced to resign due to increased problems with his lung cancer. I have been praying for both of them for years and he has gone up and down with the disease. They retired to live in Granbury. I think they attend First UMC.

The other name is Charles Herndon who is an engineer I worked with in 1957-60 who retired from General Dynamics and moved to Granbury a number of years ago. His wife was named Woman of the Year in Granbury in 2010. Last year he was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus and has been battling it with the help of "a program involving Guided Imagery developed by Gerald White who is a member of our church. He is about my age. He developed a program to involve utilizing ones mental strength and prayer to activate the immunity system to eliminate the damaging cancer cells. You may be interested in using the internet to learn more of his approach (www.cancerwarsmaarsjourney.com)."

I looked at the reference and was impressed by another Granbury engineer. I continue to pray for both and hope you will join me. Charles