The Power of Forgiveness

self-diminishing throb of a guilty conscience.”

I know that’s true from my own experience. I was at odds with a friend. I had offended him and I was miserable. I knew in my gut I needed to ask his forgiveness but I kept putting it off. All the while, guilt was like an anchor around my neck, squeezing the joy out of everything I was trying to do.

Finally, I drove over to my friend’s home, hoping he would not be at home. But he was there. I walked in and said, “I have come to ask your forgiveness.” He didn’t ask why; he knew.

He smiled, put his arms around me and simply said, “Thank you!” Tylenol may relieve a headache but it takes forgiveness to relieve a guilty conscience. We wept together as Jesus restored our friendship. God’s peace replaced the throb of my guilty conscience.

Buechner explains well what happens when we take the initiative to forgive someone who has wronged us. He says, “When you forgive someone who has wronged you, you are spared the dismal corrosion of bitterness and wounded pride for both parties. Forgiveness means the freedom again to be at peace inside your own skin and to be glad in each other’s presence.”

The “dismal corrosion of bitterness” is indeed devastating and can actually destroy the person who refuses to forgive. A forgiving spirit gives me freedom to “be at peace within my own skin.” When I refuse to forgive someone, I chain myself to nagging guilt and resentment. Only forgiveness can break those chains.

Forgiveness is what the Christian faith is all about. Everybody has sinned. Sin

Obituaries

JANE C. HUNT

Jane C. Hunt, 83, passed peacefully from this life on Saturday morning, July 1, 2023, in Auburn, after a two-year battle with leukemia, with her children by her side.

She was a follower of Christ and a member of the University church of Christ in Auburn. She moved to Auburn shortly after the passing of her husband, Charles (Charlie) in 2021.

She was born and raised in Sheffield, Alabama, and after marrying Charlie, moved to nearby Florence, Alabama, where they raised their three children. Upon retirement, she and Charlie moved to Fort Myers, Florida, where they lived for 26 years. She spent her final two years living in Auburn. She enjoyed spending time with her children and grandchildren and researching family history on the internet. She also enjoyed interior decorating, antiquing and sewing.

Jane was preceded in death by her husband Charlie, father E. Dwight Cantrell and mother H. Tommie Cantrell. She is survived by three children Chuck Hunt and wife Caralise (Auburn), Janet Hunt (Atlanta) and Beth Dunaway and husband Matt (Birmingham), four grandchildren Corey and Carter Hunt, and Lily and Anderson Dunaway. A memorial service for Jane will be officiated by

David Maxson at 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 9, 2023, inside the Chapel of Jeffcoat-Trant Funeral Home located at 1500 Fredrick Road in Opelika. Visitors will be received beginning at 2 p.m. (one hour preceding the service) also inside the Funeral Home. Jane will thereafter be laid to rest during a private ceremony which will take place at a later date and time.

Susan Starr

Susan Starr was born in 1946 in Great Falls, Montana, to Barbara and Robert Blair. Susan’s mother was a teacher and her father an Air Force pilot who had flown in the Berlin Airlift.

Susan and her younger sister Leslie lived in sunny Hawaii as children. After the death of her father, Susan moved to Texas with her mother and sister. This is where she spent much of her young life.

Susan attended the University of Houston where she earned a bachelor's degree in English. She gave birth to her first daughter, Meredith Shay, in 1966 with former spouse John Boehme.

Susan moved to California in 1968 and began working as a secretary in the Sociology Department of the University of California, Santa Barbara. She met Paul Starr, then a

Ph.D. graduate student in sociology. The pair married in 1972 and moved with Meredith to Beirut, Lebanon, where Paul had his first teaching position at the American University of Beirut (AUB). While raising her daughter, Susan completed a master’s degree in English at AUB and taught there. The family had to leave Beirut during the Civil War of 1975.

Paul, Susan and Meredith moved to Auburn, where Paul became Professor of Sociology at Auburn University. Susan gave birth to her second daughter, Kristen Amanda, in 1976 and did some coursework towards her Ph.D. in English. She also worked as a secretary at Auburn University. In 1982 the family moved to Cairo, Egypt, where Paul took a sabbatical at the American University in Cairo (AUC). There, Susan took care of her family on the Egyptian economy. She worked at the Library of Cairo American College where her daughters attended school. The family returned to Auburn in 1984.

In 1988, Paul, Susan and Kristen moved to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where Paul worked on a USAID contract for a reforestation project. Susan enjoyed many tropical days surrounded by art at her lovely house nestled in the mountains. The family again returned to Auburn in 1991, where enslaves us. God loves us anyway. He sent his son to tell us we are forgiven. His gift of forgiveness is offered in the nail-scarred hands of Jesus. Only from those hands may we receive it.

Receiving that gift, we are set free from our sins.

In that freedom we have peace with God — and that peace moves us to forgive those who have wronged us. Knowing this is what moved Paul to write, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). Is there someone with whom you are at odds now? Someone with whom you would like to restore that feeling of “being glad in each other’s presence”? Why not seek the Lord’s help to break the chains of unforgiveness? Ask Jesus to give you the courage to apologize and ask that person for forgiveness. You can do it — with His help, and you will never regret this decision.

Forgiveness can be a beautiful gift but it must be shared if we are to experience its transforming power. Receive it. Share it freely. Without it, peace with God is impossible.

Susan spent time at home reading, journaling and spending time with dear friends and her cats. She also traveled around Europe and the United States to see her beloved grandchildren Betsy, Kate and Emma. Betsy was born in 1992, Kate in 1997 and Emma in 1998. Susan loved to tour art museums, gardens and historical sites with her family. She was an active member of Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, where she served as social action chair and stayed close to her Episcopalian roots.

In her later years, Susan struggled mightily with pain and mobility issues. Her loving, magical spirit brought her through these times. After her husband Paul’s death in 2019, Susan’s daughter Kristen cared for her with the help of caregivers. Susan moved to Dadeville Healthcare Center in 2021 and spent her final days at Bethany House, where she died surrounded by her family on June 29, 2023. Susan is survived by her sister, Leslie Lucas (Tim); her daughters, Meredith Starr Ericksen (Lee) and Kristen Amanda Starr; and her granddaughters, Elisabeth Karin Ericksen, Katherine Blair Ericksen, and Emma Shay Ericksen. A memorial and celebration of life service will be held at 2 p.m. CST on Saturday, July 29, at Auburn Unitarian

Universalist Fellowship, located at 450 E. Thach Ave. in Auburn.

In lieu of flowers, donations should be sent to:

Aid to Inmate Mothers 660 Morgan Ave. Montgomery, Alabama, 36104. www.inmatemoms.org

JOHN S. FOSHEE

John S. Foshee of Beauregard was born in Wichita Falls, Texas. to Judy and John D. Foshee on Aug. 29, 1965. He passed away at the age of 57 on June 28, 2023, at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika.

He was preceded in death by his parents Judy and John D. Foshee and brother, Jimmy D. Foshee.

He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Tammy Sue Foshee; children Bailey Padgett (Daniel), Autumn Arnette (John) and Ethan Foshee; grandchildren Madelyn Padgett and Henry Padgett; brothers, Jason Foshee (Michelle) and Justin Foshee; and numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and other family members.

A memorial service was held at Frederick-Dean Funeral Home Chapel on Saturday July 1, 2023, at 5 p.m.

Frederick-Dean Funeral Home handled all arrangements.

Mary McQueen Sanford Whatley peacefully passed away on June 29, 2023. She was born on May 14, 1937, in El Paso, Texas. The Sanford family returned to their home place in Prattville, Alabama, in 1940. She attended Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, and transferred to Auburn University to receive a degree in education. She was a member of Kappa Delta Sorority.

She met her husband, Woods, in Atlanta, while she was teaching elementary school and they were married in 1963. They moved to Opelika with their two children, Forest and Mary Lea, in 1981. In Opelika, she began a new career in real estate with J.S. White Realty and retired from Realty South in 2018. She worked as a realtor in the AuburnOpelika area for more than 40 years.

She was proceeded in death by her parents, Mary Owen Murfee Sanford and Robert Lee Sanford, her husband Forest Woods Whatley and her sister, Louise Sanford Butner. She is survived by her brothers, Robert Lee Sanford Jr., Joseph Graham Sanford and James Hopson Sanford (Dot Sanford). She is also survived by her son Forest Woods

See OBITUARIES page A15