Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.
— Anne Frank
In the face of being hunted for extermination, Anne Frank could write this from her hiding place in an attic. Was she naive? No. She deeply believed in the goodness of creation and the goodness of all creatures, including those who persecuted and murdered her people.
Somehow, young as she was, Anne Frank knew a truth we sometimes lose: that it is not what people do that makes them good or evil. It is who they are. And for Anne Frank, all people are made in the image of God — and therefore, deep down at their core, must be good. She was able to see through the brutality and hatred to that true creation of God.
We are left in awe at such faith and love. But we can draw from it too, and when our brother or sister or parent or child does something to hurt us, we can remember Anne Frank‘s ability to see what is good. We can look beneath the hurtful actions and forgive.
Can I forgive someone who has hurt me today?
Hazelden Foundation
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