A frail black woman
and a white police officer
named van der Broek
faced each other
across a South African courtroom.
Mr. van der Broek had just been found
guilty of murdering
the woman's son and her husband.
He had come to her home a number of years earlier,
shot her son,
and burned his body
while he and some other officers
reveled in the act.
Several years later,
Mr. van der Broek returned and took away her husband as well.
For two years,
she heard nothing of him.
Then the man came back
and led the woman to a place beside a river,
where she saw her husband bound and beaten,
lying on a pile of wood.
The last words
she heard him say
were,
"Father, forgive them,"
as the officers poured gasoline
over his body and set him aflame.
In time,
however, justice caught up with
Mr. van der Broek.
He had been found guilty,
and it was time to determine his sentence.
The judge asked the elderly woman,
"What should be done to this man
who so
brutally
destroyed
your family?
The woman said,
"I want three things,
First,
I want to be taken to the place
where my husband's body
was burned
so that I can gather up the dust
and give his remains a decent burial.
"And because my
husband and son
were my only family,
I want,
second,
for Mr. van der Broek
to become my son.
I would like him to come
twice a month
to the ghetto
and spend a day with me
so that I can
pour out
on him
whatever love
I still have
remaining within me.
"Third,"
she said,
"I would like
Mr. van der Broek
to know that I offer him
my forgiveness
because
Jesus Christ
died
to forgive me."
Then
she walked across
the courtroom
and embraced
Mr. van der Broek.
The police officer fainted,
overwhelmed by the widow's response.
Then quietly,
friends,
family,
and neighbors -
all victims of similar
oppression and injustice -
began to sing
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound."

By David Zimmerman,
Sapulpa,Oklahoma

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