a few weeks ago, my students read the account of Hercules from Mythology. you may be familiar with the story of Hercules from the Disney movie--which is always a reliable source (sense the sarcasm?). Within the story of the greatest Greek hero, before the twelve labors and freeing Prometheus, is the story of the sorrowful depths of guilt and shame and the amazing heights of forgiveness and freedom. Hercules has a raw deal from the start. Hera, Zeus' wife, gets jealous that Zeus has a child (Hercules) with another woman and enacts revenge upon Hercules. She sends a madness upon him, which makes him kill his own wife and kids. After he realizes what he has done, his guilt overwhelms him. He wants to kill himself. Luckily, Theseus steps in. And it is here that we see the beautiful picture of redemption: Theseus stretches out his hands to clasp those bloodstainded hands of Hercules knowing that he would become defiled himself and have a part in Hercules' guilt. Hercules says to him, "Do you know what I have done?!" And Theseus responds, "I know this. Your sorrows reach from earth to heaven... You shall come to Athens with me, and share my home and all things with me..." and as i read that, i am overwhelmed with the same emotions i'm sure Hercules would have felt. i have felt the same guilt, the same shame for a sinful deed; and i have had the same redemptive work done in my life as Christ took my sins as his own and invited me in to dine with him. and he continues to invite me in. i don't have to complete twelve trials in order to achieve atonement. that has already been accomplished on the Cross. praise the Lord that he transforms dry deserts into fertile springs of running water... | 
