Words for this week - Easter

Let me throw some words at you:

Forgiveness
Tragedy
Love
Murder
Senseless killing
Acceptance
Easter
Cross
Resurrection
Atonement
Prayer
Sin
Repentance

Now then, let's throw all of those words into a stew of an illustration that portrays what Easter is all about.

It's the story of Fred Winters, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Maryville, Illinois.

You remember his story, I would guess. He was shot and killed during a Sunday service on March 8, 2009, by a troubled young man.

A week after the tragic event, his wife, Cindy Winters, was interviewed by Julie Chen of CBS's Early Show.

When asked about her husband's alleged killer, Terry Sedlacek, Cindy Winters spoke only a message of forgiveness—a message quite fitting for the Easter season:

"I do not have any hatred, or even hard feelings towards him. We have been praying for him. One of the first things that my daughter said to me after this happened was, "You know, I hope that he comes to learn to love Jesus through all of this."

We are not angry at all, and we really firmly believe that he can find hope and forgiveness and peace through this, by coming to know Jesus. And we hope that that happens for him."

I would suggest to you on this Wednesday afternoon that is the power of Easter. May we all experince that power this week - and forgive.