All of us have been hurt or disappointed by others in some way, shape, or form. The key is not to let those experiences produce a spirit of bitterness.
The Civil War left a tragic aftermath of hatred and resentment in America. One man who refused to participate in or condone this terrible spirit of anger was General Robert E. Lee. In word and deed he urged reconciliation between the North and the South. One day, a lady in Lexington, Virginia showed him the scarred remains of what was once a large, beautiful tree in her yard. All the limbs had been shot off by Federal artillery. She thought the general would share in her sense of outrage. Finally General Lee spoke, “Cut it down, my dear madam, and forget it.”
In many ways, that is good advice for all of us. We may have been hurt or slighted in some way, and bitterness has set in, but what needs to be done is to “Cut It Down and Forget It!”
