a parable

One day a father witnessed something horrible--his only son was beaten, tortured, humiliated, rejected, spit upon, mocked, and murdered, with crowds cheering. His tears stained his face with a perpetual gloom; his only son, who loved and followed and obeyed him with a fervent passion, had been killed by those he loved. His only son was stabbed in the back, over and over, by those he considered friends, by those whom he had eaten dinner with, by those whom he had prayed with. The trials came, and the one who killed his only son stood at the stand. The judge said to the murderer, as the father of the son sobbed, "You are guilty of shedding innocent blood, and are hereby sentenced to prison for the rest of your life." Then something unexpected happened--the murderer jumped down from the stand, ran crying to the father's feet, fell to his knees, and through choking sobs, admitted he was guilty of murder, and pleaded to be forgiven. Everyone in the courtroom expected the father to curse, to shout, to rant, to scream, to condemn--but he did not. Instead he fell down to the murderer's level, embraced him, and with tears of joy said, "You are forgiven. I don't hold the murder of my only son against you. Now I consider you to be one of my own children. Come live with me."

Well, got to smash some geometry homework before going to bed, so I'll be clocking out.