- $1000 Loan - A Story of Forgiveness

My brother came to me on a Friday begging me to give him a loan. He needed a thousand dollars for just a few days. Swore he’d have it back to me by Monday, at the very latest by Tuesday. That was important, as Tuesday was when I had several bills coming due. He swore on my mother’s name that he’d have it to me by then. So, with trepidation, I lent him the $1000. Well that Monday came and didn’t hear from my brother. Then it got pretty late into Tuesday, and I still hadn’t heard from him. So in the evening I decided to give him a call. He wasn’t home. I called his office. Not there either. Cell phone, all I got was voicemail. Called his Girlfriend, she hadn’t seen or heard from him since Sunday. I got a little paranoid, and actually spent some time driving around looking for him. He’d apparently disappeared from the face of the earth.

So I go about my task of figuring out how to cope with the bill situation and not enough money to pay them all. You know how that goes, figure out which ones will hurt me least if I delay payment, pay the minimum amount on the credit cards, and other financially ideal maneuvers.

I didn’t see or hear from my brother for several weeks. He even missed the family dinner after church on Sunday. Eventually he decides to show up about three weeks later. I think he realized if he missed any more the guilt trip my parents would place upon him could easily surpass the discomfort of dealing with my anger.

When I saw him, though, I didn’t really notice my brother. I actually saw someone I had only seen in my imagination. But now my imagination was proven incredibly accurate. I saw this individual who looked a lot like my brother, but it wasn’t him. Instead it was that #$%&*!!! Who owed me $1000. In fact he had a new tattoo on his forehead that said “$1000”. I hadn’t realized that the new tattoo’s had a fluorescent element to them.

And that’s how I saw him for the next several weeks. Then my heart started to ache. I missed my brother. I missed going to movies with him. Hanging out with him, talking music, computers and whatever else we talked about. Eventually, the pain of our separation began to rival and even surpass the bitterness of his offense. You know, while there was a twisted righteousness to that bitterness, I also realized that it had begun to eat away at my own joy and happiness.

I realized that I must choose to forgive him. That was the only way I would be able to return to fellowship with my brother and heal my own heart.

So I began to purposely strive to think differently about my brother. He still had that tattoo. But as I began to see him not as the jerk who skipped out on a loan, but as my brother who like me has made mistakes, the same brother who was one of my best friends, that tattoo was beginning to fade. It took a while but eventually I got to the point where the tattoo was totally gone. I got to the point where when I saw my brother, I didn’t even think of his offense. He was know longer that #$%&*!!! Who skipped out on a loan. He had once again become my brother and friend.

So I had forgiven him, and I had forgotten. I forgot on a daily basis to define him by his past offense.

So I had forgiven and forgotten. But, I hadn’t forgotten.

You see about a year later my brother asked for another $1000 loan. Suddenly I had a miraculous healing of my memory. I remember what happened the last time I lent him money. That day he had to look elsewhere for his loan. I still love him, but I don’t want the bitterness of that past event to be repeated.

Disclaimer

This is a purely fictional story. My brother has never done anything remotely similar to this.