The streams of light shone through the pictures of heavenly acts forever preserved in stained glass and danced upon their faces as they sat in the cold, stern church sanctuary. No one spoke or dared to even breath as the entire congregation gazed upon their faces with piercing eyes that searched only for fear and guilt with no regard for the values they teach in places such as these, values such as forgiveness and compassion. The four of them didn’t even know quite why they bothered to attend services any more, no one ever put to use what they had learned, the world was not a better place, nor would be if they came. Why suffer this humiliation from a crowd of hypocrites only to be taught truths they thought were far-fetched and without substantial evidence. However, their parents and the weak strains of faith they fought to preserve kept them vigilant in their quest for righteousness in the eyes of their fellow man.

Alas, their four souls were thought of anything but righteous as they were submerged in a sea of people who today only cared to mind the movements and words of their guilty four and their beloved pastor, who only two weeks ago went through the worst and hardest obstacle in his entire life. This is exactly the same obstacle they had caused, the same scenes that passed through their heads every second as they awaited their fates. They each recalled it in a slightly different way, but it always ended with a drunken driver, intoxicated passengers, one totaled sedan, two concussions, and the body of the pastors wife, motionless and mangled against shards of glass scattered across the moist, dark road. These were the exact same types of pictures that ran past the congregations eyes as they awaited after two weeks the return of their poor reverend.

He walked slowly into the room each step a bit quicker than the previous, yet there was something not quite as mournful as it should have been. He didn’t have a smile and yet the remnants of tears weren’t lingering upon his face like dew drops as it had been every other time he had been seen since the unfortunate incident. He wasn’t as happy as usual, but there was a calming sensation flowing from him that softened the sharp pains fear had caused in the youths’ hearts. They began to feel as if maybe, somehow, they were not completely alone in feeling that there could be hope for forgiveness in this chaotic world. However, these hopes died along with any others as he neared the podium with no slight smile and no signs of compassion. This was the end, the point where truth is exposed and every one will know that it was their fault, they killed Christianity in the town and they broke the pastor’s spirit. This was bound to happen and yet what happened next was a shock to absolutely everyone.

“Forgiveness,” he said, in a voice strong and steady with no quivers or shaking, “Is the heart and soul of Christianity. Mercy is treasured above all other characteristics and values. We are living because of it and for it and we must show it in all of our actions and thoughts. We are the body and without our movement no God or divine power has any presence in the world today. No morals mean anything if they can’t be shown in the hardest of times and the darkest of nights and if we can’t do this one thing for these four children we have crippled the future for our country. No matter what religion you are, where you are, or what you may have faith in, let some of that faith be placed in everyone and their ability to show forgiveness, for in that one word lies the fate of each and every one of us in the Earth today.”

The crowd was speechless, tremors ran down every spine, tears filled every eyes, and no one dared gaze at the four dumbfounded youth at the back of the church. The pastor stepped down from his podium and into the congregation where he proceeded to forgive each of the teenagers who had scared him deeply. He held no grudges and his pain was released for forgiveness is not only for the ones who it is given to but also for he who disperses it.

That day lives were changed, paths were formed, and a faith grew in the church that would never be broken. Although not every person remained there. Some couldn’t fully believe what was thought and found other truths that they could better grasp, but each one held tight to what they heard that day and the body of faith moved in the world like a wave upon the sand and removed insecurities and discursions with a power that could never be diminished. Life found new meaning at the sound of a word, a word that gave hope and healing to all lost souls, and the four never forgot that lives could be altered and the past forgiven and forgotten at the uttering of a single word.