FORGIVENESS OR REVENGE

Anglican Bishop Hassan Dequani-Tafti’s son Bahram was murdered by Islamic revolutionaries in Iran in 1989. He wrote “A Father’s Prayer on the Martyrdom of his Son”. It has become known world-wide, translated into many languages and made available in numerous books.

O God,

We remember not only Bahram but his murderers,

Not because they killed him in the prime of his youth and made our hearts bleed and our tears flow.

Not because with this savage act they have brought further disgrace on the name of our country among the civilized nations of the world:

But because through their crime we now follow more closely thy footsteps in the way of sacrifice.

The terrible fire of this calamity burns up all selfishness and possessiveness in us:

Its flame reveals the depth of depravity, meanness and suspicion the dimension of hatred and the measure of sinfulness in human nature.

It makes plain to us as never before our need to trust in thy love as shown in the Cross of Jesus and his Resurrection,

Love that makes us free from all hatred towards our persecutors:

Love which brings patience, forbearance, courage, loyalty, humility, generosity and greatness of heart,

Love which more than ever deepens out trust in God’s final victory and thy eternal designs for the Church and the world:

Love which teaches us how to prepare ourselves to face our own day of death.

 

O God,

Bahram’s blood multiplies the fruit of the Spirit in the soil of our souls:

So when his murderers stand before thee on the Day of Judgement

Remember the fruit of the Spirit by which they have enriched our lives,

And forgive.

(H.B. Dehqani-Tafti, The Unfolding Design of My World, p.211)

What a contrast to those who seek revenge!