The Gift of Introspection

Here's a story you don't hear everyday. I read this story in the Deseret News on August 15, 2011 in an article entitled "Act of forgiveness set Iranian woman free". I clipped it and saved it in my journal. It's the story of a woman by the name of Ameneh Bahrami who refused a man's proposal of marriage. He retaliated out of humiliation by pouring acid on her face, blinding her and disfiguring her once beautiful face. Even though women are largely not respected in the Middle East, the law still provided that she could execute justice, an eye for an eye. Literally. And she was given the go ahead to do this on live television. I didn't see it, but according to the article, she was about to follow through with her revenge when she changed her mind at the last minute. She chose to forgive him and show him some mercy. She did  not pour the acid on his face, and he left the spotlight unharmed. The article discusses how her act of forgiveness set her free, undoubtedly planting peace in her heart that giving the man justice couldln't touch. But I found myself wondering about the man. Was he changed by her act of love? If he has any decency in him at all, he couldn't help but be changed. Maybe he'll think twice before hurting someone so cruelly again. I admire Amaneh for making it possible for him to receive such a gift. Not just the gift of retaining his sight and supposedly good features, but the gift of introspection.

It reminds me of the story of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables. Unjustly imprisoned, he found that upon his release he was bitter and lacked the integrity he may have had at one time. Destitute, he petitioned a kindly priest for a bed for the night. The priest granted his petition with full trust. The priest wasn't blind to the nature of the man whom he was letting into his home, but undoubtedly he saw good and potential in Jean Valjean. Valjean, true to the nature imbred in him, made off during the night with a sack full of the priest's valuables. He was caught by the police and brought back to the doorstep of the home he had robbed. The priest held his life in his hands. He looked at Valjean, thought for a moment, and replied to the officer that he had, in fact, given the belongings to Valjean as a gift. Valjean was stunned. The officer let him go. Valjean was stunned at what had just happened, and he walked away a changed man. The priest had given him the gift of introspection.

I hope the unnamed Iranian man sees life differently now, and that he uses his eyesight to help rather than to hurt. But that is a side of the story we'll likely never hear. So, it remains to apply some self-introspection based on the side of the story we did hear. It is simply: do I forgive enough? If Amaneh can forgive on the grand scale she did, I can forgive more quickly on a small scale. And regardless if our forgiveness extended changes someone else, it allows for more happiness and peace of mind in ourselves.