Loaves & Fishes 27

God will forgive you;
maybe I am far worse
than you.
give me, for the love of God! I’ll
confess it, and you can go free.”
“It’s easy for you to talk,” said
Aksionov, “but I have suffered
for you these twenty-six years.
Now my wife is dead and my
children have forgotten me. I
have nowhere to go.”
Makar Semyonich beat his
head on the floor and sobbed.
“I can’t bear to think what I
did to you, yet you had pity on
me, and did not tell on me. For
Christ’s sake forgive me, wretch
that I am!”
Then Aksionov began to weep
too. “God will forgive you!” he
said. “Maybe I am far worse than
you.” And his heart grew light,
and the longing for home and
freedom left him.
Makar Semyonich did confess
his guilt, and Aksionov was pardoned,
but by the time the order
for his release arrived, Aksionov
was already dead.
Adapted from Leo N. Tolstoy
Somewhere in James 1
Unscramble the hidden verse (NKJV).
fI ennoay oanmg oyu kntish he si ersiiuglo, and sode not dielrb sih
ugnoet but desceiev his onw ahtre, sthi oen's orinielg si lsessue.
Reference:
48 | Loaves & Fishes • Issue 27