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Revenge
This was the headline in one of the national newspapers. The typeface filled half of the page. The rest was
a picture of a nice country bungalow and a little bit of script that ended ‘Full story on page 3’. I doubt
whether anyone who bought the paper could resist the temptation to turn straight to page 3 and read the
details. If they had they would have found that a woman whose husband had cheated her and gone off with
her best friend had bided her time, waited for her opportunity then killed them both, not instantly, but in a
way which allowed her to extract maximum satisfaction by giving them maximum terror. A nasty, sorry,
sordid story of course, but the editor of the paper knew it would help his sales for that day.
Deep down many of us know someone we would like, as we say, to ‘get even with’. Someone has done something to us which
we have allowed to fester. If we had the courage, or the folly, we would love to get our own back. More worrying still, at any
given moment there is probably someone who would love to take revenge on us. The desire for revenge is like a deep itch
somewhere right down inside. The editor knew that because we can’t scratch that itch ourselves we like reading about someone
else who could and did.
Revenge is a driver embedded very deeply into people in general and into individuals. It drove for many years the horrors of
Northern Ireland, it is fuelling the hatred being played out in the Middle East. It can be seen it today’s political scene. It is at the
root of the breakdown of many families. It is a huge challenge, and we have to find an alternate way to deal with the problem.
Revenge is not that way. Neither is going soft and pretending that the cause of the itch never happened. We have to stop, think
deeply, and seek a way which might seem initially both surprising and impossible.
When the Roman Soldiers hung Jesus on the cross, we might have expected the small group of his followers who witnessed the
horror to have felt the urge for revenge. But no. They had learned form Jesus the way of forgiveness, they had taken on board
the teachings of their leader, they had heard his message of love, that his followers were to go and tell others that overlaying the
hatred and hurt of a crucifixion was the love of a heavenly Father. This was where they were to put their sights. Can this be an
example to you? Rather than having an urge for revenge which would be a backwards step why not come and find a new way, a
peaceful, satisfying and loving way by joining in the worship and activity of one of the six churches in South Woodham Ferrers.
South Woodham Ferrers Christian Council
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