What a remarkable perspective, from someone hurt so badly by Larry Nassar:
In our early hearings. you brought your Bible into the courtroom and you have spoken of praying for forgiveness. And so it is on that basis that I appeal to you. If you have read the Bible you carry, you know the definition of sacrificial love portrayed is of God himself loving so sacrificially that he gave up everything to pay a penalty for the sin he did not commit. By his grace, I, too, choose to love this way.
You spoke of praying for forgiveness. But Larry, if you have read the Bible you carry, you know forgiveness does not come from doing good things, as if good deeds can erase what you have done. It comes from repentance which requires facing and acknowledging the truth about what you have done in all of its utter depravity and horror without mitigation, without excuse, without acting as if good deeds can erase what you have seen this courtroom today.
If the Bible you carry says it is better for a stone to be thrown around your neck and you throw into a lake than for you to make even one child stumble. And you have damaged hundreds.
The Bible you speak carries a final judgment where all of God's wrath and eternal terror is poured out on men like you. Should you ever reach the point of truly facing what you have done, the guilt will be crushing. And that is what makes the gospel of Christ so sweet. Because it extends grace and hope and mercy where none should be found. And it will be there for you.
I pray you experience the soul crushing weight of guilt so you may someday experience true repentance and true forgiveness from God, which you need far more than forgiveness from me -- though I extend that to you as well.
-- Rachael Denhollander
As painful as they may be, we must continue to acknowledge such things — talk about them, enter them...not avoid them. We have such a model of entering in, in the Bible. I suspect that this may be among the greater themes of the Christian Scriptures — God entering such contexts of our world throughout time.
And, each of us can do so; in fact, we are called to do this. To enter, where others can't or won’t go (more on this part of the issue related to the church here). We aren’t called to all do it for the same thing or in the same way. So, we can have great appreciation and encouragement for others and the way they are entering the many contexts of life.
Here’s an example: http://wvpe.org/post/listening-new-year
