"There are things which even the forgiven man cannot undo anymore than you cast a stone into a pool, and then with your hand stay the ever-multiplying circles. We live in a world of laws that cannot be trifled with. ‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap’ [Galatians 6:7]. David sowed shame, appetite, and murder, and one by one they come back on his head. We recognize this law and own its justice, but too often our lives are so ordered that we are as men that expect that our lives and our deeds will be exceptions to the general law. With God there is mercy and plenteous redemption. But the Sword!
Wounds of the soul, though healed, will ache,
The reddening scars remain
And make confession;
Lost innocence returns no more,
We are not what we were
Before transgression."
