Many Years Ago, Pastor Stuart Briscoe Visited A ...

Many years ago, Pastor Stuart Briscoe visited a mission in a remote, primitive area. He spent the night in the hut of the local "witch" doctor. Overhead, Briscoe noticed a variety of small objects hanging from the ceiling. The missionary informed him t hat each object represented some offence the villagers had committed against the doctor or his family. If someone spoke unkindly of the doctor, he would hang up an object representing that person’s unkind words. Forgiveness was not an option. In fact, the doctor hung those objects from the ceiling so that as he lay in bed each night, he could count the objects and remind himself of each person’s offence. In this way, he was continually replaying his grievances.

[Jill Briscoe, Heart Strings (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1997).]