Christmas Ornaments and Nazi Whorehouses, Redemption Part 2

(The last entry, Part 1, was seriously exhausting to my little brain. 

So most of this one is other people's words)

(No profound insights in Part 2, if in fact
there were any in Part 1. Mostly quotes.
I will share that there is a ... physical and  mental 
health crisis for a family member (not Matt or boys) that is
currently occupying a lot of brain-space). 

[[  Part 2  ]]

I love thinking about the various forms of redeem, redemption, etc. In a recent phone conversation, my maternal aunt shared with me a letter her father had written to her mother from France, during World War 2. My grandfather (Loyce, he died before I was born) wrote that his unit was being housed at some chateau (which, he explained, "means castle" :) ), that before the American soldiers were there,  had been used by the Nazis as a whorehouse. The kiddos were listening when I related this story to Matt so I used the phrase "house of ill repute" though I followed it with clarification that my Grandpa Loyce had likely never used that term, he just used the, ah, colloquialism. Which is probably not a word he knew either.

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[[ Quick aside - since I was in middle school and 

my mom had a retail job at a Hallmark store, 

I have been collecting the Nostalgic Houses & Shops 

Christmas ornament series.

 There are various private homes, a bookstore and post office, 

City Hall and movie theater, etc., a whole little town. 

There's also a police station with a little jail cell; 

every year when the new ornament is unveiled 

Matt hopes that *this year* is the year 

there will be a "House of Ill Repute" ornament ]]

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But anyway, after the whorehouse comment (the greatness of having my grandfather write "whorehouse" was tempered by his description of most of the prostitutes appearing to be teenagers) was followed by a query about whether my grandmother had enough ration stamps to get the things they needed. Redeeming stamps to buy necessities during World War II. Redeeming Green Stamps for an appliance and Bi-Lo bonus points for a free turkey. Redeeming coupons for Herbal Essences Shampoo. Having some redeeming quality that makes up for all your poor ones. The Church of the Living Redeemer. Bob Marley's "Redemption Song."

Mostly, receiving something at a lower cost than usual, perhaps free, so you can get something you ordinarily wouldn't be able to obtain. Maybe something you would otherwise not "deserve." Being set free from something, when a fee has been paid, typically by someone else. Something is making up for your deficits.

Hmmm.

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re·demp·tion 

 [ri-demp-shuhn] 

1.

an act of redeeming or atoning for a fault or mistake, or the state of being redeemed.

2.

deliverance; rescue.

3.

Theology . deliverance from sin; salvation.

4.

atonement for guilt.

5.

repurchase, as of something sold

“Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, "Love your enemies." It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies. ― Martin Luther King, Jr.

“We must not offer people a system of redemption, 

a set of insights and principles. 

We offer people a Redeemer.” 

― Paul David Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands: 

People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change

“Sorry. ... 

Sorry means you feel the pulse of other people's pain as well as your own, and saying it means you take a share of it. And so it binds us together, makes us trodden and sodden as one another. 

Sorry is a lot of things. It's a hole refilled. A debt repaid. 

Sorry is the wake of misdeed. It's the crippling ripple of consequence. 

Sorry is sadness, just as knowing is sadness. 

Sorry is sometimes self-pity. 

But Sorry, really, is not about you. It's theirs to take or leave. ...

Sorry means you leave yourself open, to embrace or to ridicule or to revenge.

Sorry is a question that begs forgiveness, because the metronome of a good heart won't settle until things are set right and true. 

Sorry doesn't take things back, but it pushes things forward. It bridges the gap. 

Sorry is a sacrament. It's an offering. A gift.” ― Craig Silvey, Jasper Jones

“Yes, a dark time passed over this land,

but now there is something like light.”

 ― Dave Eggers, Zeitoun

“I take literally the statement in the Gospel of John that God loves the world. I believe that the world was created and approved by love, that it subsists, coheres, and endures by love, and that, insofar as it is redeemable, it can be redeemed only by love. I believe that divine love, incarnate and indwelling in the world, summons the world always toward wholeness, which ultimately is reconciliation and atonement with God.” ― Wendell Berry

"We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind. Mind is your only ruler, sovereign. The man who is not able to develop and use his mind is bound to be the slave of the other man who uses his mind." 

(Speech by Marcus Garvey, given in Nova Scotia in October 1937) 

“There is a way to be good again” 

― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

********************** From The Shawshank Redemption:  Parole Board Official: Ellis Boyd Redding, your files say you've served 40 years of a life sentence. Do you feel you've been rehabilitated? Red: Rehabilitated? Well, now let me see.  You know, I don't have any idea what that means. Parole Board Official: Well, it means that you're ready to rejoin society... Red: I know what *you* think it means, sonny.  To me it's just a made up word. A politician's word, so young fellas  like yourself can wear a suit and a tie, and have a job.  What do you really want to know?  Am I sorry for what I did? Parole Board Official: Well, are you? Red: There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret.  Not because I'm in here,  or because you think I should.  I look back on the way I was then:  a young, stupid kid who  committed that terrible crime.  I want to talk to him.  I want to try and talk some sense to him,  tell him the way things are.  But I can't. That kid's long gone and  this old man is all that's left.  I got to live with that.  Rehabilitated?  It's just a bullshit word.  So you go on and stamp your form, sonny,  and stop wasting my time.  Because to tell you the truth,  I  don't  give  a  shit.