Forgiveness Flour

A beautiful devotional that MariLouise's dad gave at BYU a few years ago. It is so beautiful and real (and it tells the story of Corrie ten Boom that I shared in class--but it tells it much, much better).

Here is the link to the talk in full and the beautiful poem, "Forgiveness Flour."

http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=2393

"I would like to close with a poem composed by Marguerite Stewart. It is entitled "Forgiveness Flour." The poem, written in the first person, features an unnamed wife who answers her door to find a young woman in shame and seeking flour, which symbolizes forgiveness, to make bread. The poem reads"

When I went to the door, at the whisper of knocking,
I saw Simeon Gantner's daughter, Kathleen, standing
There, in her shawl and her shame, sent to ask
"Forgiveness Flour" for her bread. "Forgiveness Flour,"
We call it in our corner. If one has erred, one
Is sent to ask for flour of his neighbors. If they loan it
To him, that means he can stay, but if they refuse, he had
Best take himself off. I looked at Kathleen . . .
What a jewel of a daughter, though not much like her
Father, more's the pity. "I'll give you flour," I
Said, and went to measure it. Measuring was the rub.
If I gave too much, neighbors would think I made sin
Easy, but if I gave too little, they would label me
"Close." While I stood measuring, Joel, my husband
Came in from the mill, a great bag of flour on his
Shoulder, and seeing her there, shrinking in the
Doorway, he tossed the bag at her feet. "Here, take
All of it." And so she had flour for many loaves,
While I stood measuring.

[Marguerite Stewart, "Forgiveness Flour," Religious Studies Center Newsletter 7, no. 3