Posted on 10/11/2020 7:15:52 AM PDT by mad_as_he$$
I received a visit from the step daughter of a distant relative last week. My distant cousin died after a short bout with lung cancer in July. He became religious in the last five years of his life and had embarked on a quest to right the wrongs that he believed he had committed during his life. He made a list of those wrongs. This includes thing(s) he feels that he did that were damaging to other people as well as restitution for petty theft(s) he committed in his younger days.
It was a death bed request to the daughter that she find me and get me to complete his redemption list. His original list had about about 50 entries. 32 are crossed off so I assume that he made satisfactory(to him) contact or restitution to those already. The balance are people and companies that he couldn't find or that are gone/deceased. The package contains letters to people and money to make restitution for theft and a stipend for my expenses.
I want to honor his wishes but I am not sure how I "make it right" with the dead and companies that no longer exist.
FReeper wisdom would be appreciated.
As a Protestant I appreciate that you were simply sharing what you do. While I don’t agree I don’t hate and I am sure you are just weighing in with sincere observations.
I think he should make the restitution on behalf of the cousin. It is doing good.
“I think he should make the restitution on behalf of the cousin. It is doing good.”
Nice feel-good thought, but not possible.
I always avoid the word should.
You are correct. I state what works for me. Then I move along. I till the college kids where I’m coming from politically they tend to back off trying to argue their naive points and it gives me a chance to butt in to their bigotry prejudices about me.
I feel bad for this person, but that is not how it works.
It not by works that we are saved.
It makes complete sense. Can you apologize for slavery committed by people of a different generation by giving the descendants of slavery money?
If the aggrieved party is still alive, then I can make amends for the offender.
You can make monetary amends, but you cannot apologize FOR him. So if a descendant of slavery was still alive, you could apologize for deceased slave owners?
I can certainly compensate him sufficiently to alleviate his grievance against those who held him in captivity; my compensation would be such that in response to my request for the forgiveness of the slaveholder, he would be compelled to grant it.
Now to address the underlying issues.
Your cousin left a n unfinished list of things he wished to rectify. God knows what became of the wrong your cousin believed he had done to others. Some may have been used already by God to change circumstances for those 'wronged' ... all things work together to accomplish His pruposes, for those who are in Christ.
You have been enjoined to accomplish what your cousin couldnot finish. You are not obliged to do this, before God. HOWEVER, you should perhaps put the whole matter up to GOD and see if HE brings people into your life who are listed and who can benefit from the desire of your cousin as a Christian to rectify. The reality that someone forgotten (probably) felt the need to right wrongs they had done can be a powerful message to anyone fence sitting the redemption offered as Grace From God.
At any rate, I respect that you are committed to this challenge and I hope that you write down your thoughts and the details of that challenge. It has the makings of a genuinely involving piece of non-fiction (you can always change the names, it's still non-fiction). And a prayer for your success!
I think restitution is a biblical concept. It doesn’t save you though. If that’s what you mean by “it doesn’t work” then I agree.
You can’t. He was either redeemed by God grace through Jesus Christ before his death, or he was not.
Well, you can’t make it right with the dead and those you can not find or who no longer exist., but you can do something with the amount “in their name”. I suggest St Judes.
Most importantly, trust God to lead you and trust Gods words about redeeming those who believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. It is not good works, or making up for anything that saves...it Gods Grace that saves.
Sleep well, friend.
read later. I lost my daughter not knowing if she was saved.
While Michael Palin is still around Terry Jones is now pining for the fjords.
Follow up on the story.
I spent a very frustrating day(about 6 hours) trying to locate the remaining 18 entities that were on the list. Nine are female, three are male and the balance are/were small businesses. I located one male that is deceased. Pretty poor results. I was talking to the private eye that we use at work for back round checks and asked him the best way to research this matter. He was fascinated by the subject and insisted that he look into it for cost. I took him up on it.
He located 5 of the females and and one of the remaining males and one of the heirs of one of the businesses. Most of the females had been married more than once and it makes them harder to find. The one business heir that he found were so moved by the effort that they will be donating the money returned from my relative to a charity of their choice. The “apology” letters from my relative and the checks for the amount(if that was warranted) he felt he owed them are going out in the mail today. I will also be mailing a substantial check with the balance of the funds to a Veterans House in the city where my relative lived.
As a side note it is truly sobering that amount of information available on the net about all of us. The PI has access to databases that I would of had to join and pay a fee to utilize.
Thank you for your thoughts on this matter. I appreciate it.
God bless you bigglee for doing this for your cousin. You’ll see him in the clouds sooner than later.
Thanks for the feedback and God bless you...and that “hound from Heaven” private eye.
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