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On my better days, I agree with Desmond Tutu that we might not be able to create a world without pain or loss or conflict or hurt feelings, but we can create a world of forgiveness. On good days; those days when I don鈥檛 read articles which contain the disclaimer:

Contains graphic descriptions of torture; a piece which tells of the horror of allegations of brutality against Ukrainian soldiers, made by a former Russian Officer who witnessed these atrocities. On days like that, I think creating a world of forgiveness is the hardest thing of all. Today鈥檚 Church of England reading comes from Hebrews Chapter 13, which begins with the line: 鈥楲et mutual love continue,鈥� followed by 鈥榬emember those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.鈥� Enduring the pain of torture is beyond my comprehension, and I have no difficulty in feeling empathy for the victims. It is so much harder to feel compassion for the perpetrators, and yet, we can鈥檛 hope to create a world of forgiveness without it.

The Russian officer acknowledged he didn鈥檛 have the moral right to ask for forgiveness from the Ukrainians. As he said on this programme yesterday, 鈥淚 can鈥檛 forgive myself, I can鈥檛 expect them to forgive me.鈥� He鈥檚 right that forgiveness is a gift, one which can鈥檛 simply be claimed as ours by right. It鈥檚 a gift we can give to others and which we gratefully receive. It has the power to be transformative and to heal, but if it is wielded insensitively, it can be used as a stick to beat people with. It must be given freely, never demanded.

The Lord鈥檚 Prayer is a daily reminder to Christians that forgiveness is a central tenet of our faith, and yet forgiving the unforgivable is very hard. I don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 it鈥檚 like to have committed evil on such a scale as seen in the war in Ukraine, apparently on both sides. Nor to have suffered the horrors of torture, but like all human beings, I鈥檝e been in the position of being able to bestow the gift of forgiveness on others and being in desperate need of forgiveness myself.

As Jesus hangs dying on the cross he utters, 鈥淔orgive them Father, for they do not know what they are doing.鈥�

Forgive them, he says. I find it encouraging that in that moment Jesus asks God to do the forgiving, and sometimes this is all I can manage. Creating a world of forgiveness isn鈥檛 a way to blot out suffering, but it might be the only way we can bring ourselves to cope with it.

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