Story of Grace

Grace One

It was in the winter of 1935. The nation was in the throes of the great depression. It’s hard for us to imagine in today’s affluent society just how desperate those days were. Well do I remember, as a child, people knocking on our back door begging for food. Mom always fed them. Long lines of hungry people were standing in front of soup kitchens waiting for something to eat. Jobs were virtually nonexistent, and money was as precious as it was scarce.

There was a man by the name of Fiorello LaGuardia who was the mayor of New York City during those dark days. LaGuardia seemed to have a genuine heartfelt love for the common man, especially the down trodden. One time, during a newspaper strike, he spent his Sunday mornings reading the funny papers over the radio, and with all the appropriate inflections. Why? He didn’t want the children of New York to be deprived of that little bit of enjoyment. He was well- known for his blustery outbursts against the bums that exploited the poor. He was completely unpredictable and full of surprises.

One night he showed up at a night court in one of the poorest wards of the city; and that’s where this phase of our story begins. He dismissed the presiding judge for the evening and sent him home to his family. Then the mayor himself took over the bench.

As it happened on that bitterly cold night, a tattered old woman stood before the bench, accused of stealing a loaf of bread. You must understand these were desperate times. A lot of people were going hungry.

With quivering lips and tear filled eyes, she admitted to the theft. But, she added, my daughter’s husband has deserted her, she is sick, and her children are crying because they have nothing to eat.

The shopkeeper, however, refused to drop the charges. It’s a bad neighborhood your honor, she’s guilty, he shouted. The law must be upheld, she’s got to be punished to teach other people a lesson. LaGuardia knew that her accuser was right. The very office that he swore to uphold required that he enforce the letter of the law.

LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the old women and said, I’ve got to punish you; the law makes no exceptions. He then pronounced the sentence. The old woman shuddered when she heard the words, ten dollars or ten days in jail. But already the judge was reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a ten-dollar bill and threw it into his hat. Here’s the ten-dollar fine, which I now remit. Furthermore, I’m fining everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant.

Sitting in that courtroom that night were about seventy petty criminals, a few New York policemen, and her accuser, a fuming, red-faced, storekeeper. The bewildered old grandmother left the courtroom with $47.50. This was enough to buy groceries for several months.

Grace Two

In 1984, Jennifer Thompson-Cannino was a beautiful, young student at Elton college. An African-American man broke into her room, and at knife-point, forcibly raped her. She was devastated, emotionally, physically destroyed in that instant. Working with the police, she managed to create a sketch of the assailant, and then picked him out of a lineup. She testified that 22 yr old Ronald Cotton was undeniably the man who raped her. Ronald, who claimed innocence, was thrown in prison with a 50 yr sentence. For Jennifer, it was the happiest day of her life.

While in prison, he found that another inmate, Bobby Poole, had confessed to a cell-mate that he had committed the crime.

Eleven years later, with the aid of new advances in DNA evidence, Ronald Cotton was proven innocent and cleared of the crime, and Poole guilty.

He was released at 33, a free man. And the surprising part… he held absolutely no hostility towards the desperate white woman who had mistakenly slandered his name and robbed him of a decade of his life. In fact, he felt empathetic. He understood her hurt, the depth of her anger. It was the same anger he himself still held toward the real rapist, the man who had gotten away and allowed Ronald to take the rap.

At the same time, Jennifer was devastated by the news she had put an innocent man in prison. The guilt and shame was so palpable, it threatened to crush her in a way the anger never could. And the only thing that saved her was meeting Ronald, and him telling her in all sincerity “that he forgave her a long time ago.” At that moment, Jennifer was able to allow herself to let go. To forgive herself.

Here is how Thompson briefly and vividly described her meeting with Cotton as she entered the church where they had agreed to meet:

“I started to cry immediately. And I looked at him, and I said, ‘Ron, if I spent every second of every minute of every hour for the rest of my life telling you how sorry I am, it wouldn’t come close to how my heart feels. I’m so sorry.’ And Ronald just leaned down, he took my hands…and he looked at me, he said,‘I forgive you,’” Thompson remembered.

“I told her, I said, ‘Jennifer, I forgive you. I don’t want you to look over your shoulder. I just want us to be happy and move on in life,’” Cotton recalled.

Thompson further describes the healing of mercy . . .

“The minute he forgave me, it’s like my heart physically started to heal. And I thought, ‘This is what grace and mercy is all about. This is what they teach you in church that none of us ever get.’And here was this man that I had hated. I mean, I used to pray every day of my life during those eleven years that he would die. That he would be raped in prison and someone would kill him in prison. That was my prayer to God. And here was this man who with grace and mercy just forgave me,” Thompson said. “How wrong I was, and how good he is.”

Grace Three

Ding-dong. The doorbell rang and resounded through the house. Sue Solis walked through her home in San Leandro and opened the door. "Are you Susan?", the man asked casually. "Yes", she replied. Without pausing he replied. "Well, I do yard work, and do you need someone to do your yard?". Surprised at the question that seemed to already know the answer, Susan said "Why yes, I actually do." Little would she know that this simple conversation would change her life forever. 

Sue Solis lived the life of a mother and everyday American. She would hardly seem to be the person that would suffer an attack from a stranger. However on that March day in 1986, she would come to grips with a reality that would rock her world. As she was showing the presumed 'yard worker' around her property, the man pulled a gun on her, pointing it lethally at the back of her head. Unaware of what was happening, Sue continued to show him around, until the sound of her 7-year old son's voice reached her ears. At this, the gunman lowered his weapon, keeping it hidden from view. He then requested the use of her phone. She complied and showed him inside.

She waited a respectful distance away from the man in order to give him some privacy while using the phone. As she looked down at some bills and waited for him, she failed to notice the deadly .380 automatic gun that had reappeared, pointing right at her. In a moment, she fell to the floor with a bullet wound that went completely through her abdomen. She looked up to see the man struggling with the now jammed gun. She made a break for the door, beating him to it, and stumbled outside.

As she stumbled outside she found a fellow neighbor, a former helicopter pilot in Vietnam, who grabbed her and put her in his truck and sped off to the hospital. After 4-5 hours worth of surgery, Sue Solis survived the shooting and spent the next several weeks recovering.

This, however, is only part of the story.

12 years later, Sue finds herself listening to a voicemail on her message machine. It is her attempted killer, apologizing for what he did and requesting for one thing - to come and see him in prison.

It took her two months to accept his request.

When she finally did meet him, it was no easy task. Both of them cried openly for an hour and talked about how the incident had changed their lives. The shooter, spending 12 years in prison for the crime and Sue, who spent a good part of the 12 years working through the healing process - physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Sue then did what most people would consider unthinkable - she forgave him of his crime. According to her interview with Larry King, she states that forgiveness "releases you. Forgiveness is an act of self-love. It's hard to understand, but it's really true."

This story of this amazing woman and her full grasp of what it means to forgive was fully realized when both Sue and her shooter came face to face with one another and brought closure to the event. Through the power of forgiveness, Sue is able to let go of resentment and hatred and live a more full and healthy life.

Grace Four

Christmas was nearing on the Pacific island of Palau. The DePaiva family - father Ruimar, mother Margareth, and children Larisson and Melissa - were anticipating the holiday season with excitement, looking forward to having friends and other visitors to stay at the house. On the night of December 22 the missionary family went to bed for a peaceful night of rest after a busy time preparing for the holidays.

Larisson, age 11, awoke to the strange sounds of an intruder in the room. He thought the burglar was attempting to take some of his precious electronic equipment. When Larisson tried to stop the intruder, he was bludgeoned to death with a tree limb. After Larisson's father and mother entered the room, the intruder also clubbed them to death.

The perpetrator abducted 10-year-old Melissa. After a traumatic 20 hours as a captive, he strangled her twice and left her seeming lifeless body in a ditch. Regaining consciousness, Melissa crawled up to the roadside and flagged down an approaching car. She was taken to the police station and within a few hours the perpetrator was apprehended. The entire nation of Palau was in shock as the dreadfulness and brutality of the crime.

Ruth DePaiva, Ruimar's mother - and Melissa's grandmother - arrived from Mexico broken-hearted. As she prepared for the funeral of three beloved family members, she asked to visit the perpetrator who had murdered her son, daughter-in-law, and only grandson. Determinedly, she walked into the cell to say two things: (1) "You need Jesus," and (2) "You are forgiven." In disbelief, his heart was broken, and his eyes flooded with tears. When asked if he accepted Christ, he said, "Yes." The murderer of 3 members of the DePaiva family raised his hands in submission to God and the pastor prayed with him. How could anyone - any mother - be so forgiving of him and his heinous crime? But she was. Just like Jesus who died at the hands of cruel people.

At the funeral for the DePaiva family another remarkable thing happened. After four hours of tributes by dignities, Ruimar's mother learned the assailant's mother was present. She invited the mother to come forward to the platform. The assailant's mother, unable to walk on her own, had to be escorted by three people to the podium. Ruth DePaiva hugged her warmly. "We are two mothers grieving for lost sons. The DePaiva family does not blame the Justin family for the tragedy. We raise our children; we educate them. We teach them right from wrong. That is all we, as mothers, can do."

But for Your grace I could not be saved
But for Your grace I would go my way
I'm forever grateful
That You have been faithful to me Lord
And for Your amazing grace 

(Lyrics taken from "But for Your Grace by Rita Baloche)