The cactus is a strange plant.  Think about it, what plant demands more respect than the cactus?  I can still remember the first time I stretched an inquisitive finger out to gently stroke its bizarre needles.  I thought I would be able to conduct a little experiment and then walk away.  But the cactus doesn’t play that way because he insists on getting the last word in every conversation.  After my first talk with a cactus I can still recall my mother with a magnifying glass, tweezers and a bright light asking, “What made you want to touch that cactus?”

        Ever since that day I have thought of the cactus as a vengeful plant, always ready to settle the score with anyone foolish enough to cross the line he has drawn in the sand.  Cross him and he will make you pay.  Get too close and he will make sure you’ll wish you had given him more respect.  Revenge and pay-back fill his every thought.  He has a malicious heart filled with one thing; an urge to hurt or humiliate those who might do him wrong.  I am reminded of a quote from the movie, The Untouchables where Sean Connery explains the Chicago way, “They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital; you send one of his to the morgue.”

        Why is it so easy to fill ones heart with thoughts of getting even?  Why are we more prone to revenge an injury than to repay a kindness?  How much of our lives have we wasted scheming ways of inflicting punishment and settling the score with someone?  Nothing on earth consumes a man more quickly than resentment.  A lust for revenge turns us into bees that kill themselves when they sting others.  Truly, he who seeks revenge digs two graves, and sadly we keep on digging.

        The smallest revenge proves its own executioner as it poisons the soul with self inflicted torment.  Free yourself today from the chains of revenge; only then can we truly enjoy our blessings and live a life of freedom and contentment.  Happiness is a choice; choose to forgive and live well, which is the best revenge.

Something to think about:

• The best sort of revenge is not to be like him who did the injury.

• Revenge is a machine you go into as a pig and come out of as a sausage.

• There is no torment like the inner torment of an unforgiving spirit. It refuses to be soothed, it refuses to be healed, and it refuses to forget.

• The best way to get even is to forget.

• A retentive memory is often a good thing, but the ability to forget can be a token of greatness.

• A person is merely inviting future injuries if he tries to avenge past ones.

• Never does the human soul appear as strong as when it foregoes revenge and dares to forgive an injury.

Thankful for forgiving friends
Rickey Moore