When winter passed and spring was about to begin, lockdown was issued in all cities in the U.K. It was an action taken to prevent the spread of the virus as the number of confirmed cases and deaths increased every day due to the global outbreak of COVID-19. As I started working from home, I was able to have more time with my family.
It was really good at first. However, as time went by, I started being in conflict more often with my husband. As we felt comfortable with each other, we spoke less carefully, which ended up hurting each other’s feelings. One day, we raised our voices a little while arguing over something trivial. While trying to ignore the uncomfortable mood swirling inside the house, I was looking outside the window, thinking, ‘I am right, and he’s wrong.’ Then I noticed the sun was going down. At that moment, I remembered Mother’s words that I recently heard in a video sermon, and I felt guilty.
“Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. Try saying sorry before the sun goes down. Try saying sorry even if it wasn’t your fault. If you are asked why you say sorry although it wasn’t your fault, say, ‘I am just sorry.’ ”
This was the perfect moment to put those words into practice, but my pride was still telling me that “I was right” and that “it wasn’t my fault.” Suppressing my pride with Mother’s words, I went to my husband first. I was hovering around him, trying to find the right moment to apologize to him, but I was hesitant, feeling awkward. While I was hesitating, the sun kept going down in the west. The sun seemed to be going down faster than usual, and I felt anxious. Before the sun was completely down, I managed to open my mouth and say,
“. . . I am sorry.”
Once I said sorry, it was so easy to say the rest of what I wanted to say. My husband apologized, too, saying that he is the one who should say sorry. Our child who was watching us asked us,
“Why are you saying sorry to each other all of a sudden?”
“Well, when you make a mistake, you are supposed to say sorry before the sun goes down.”
Since then, my child tells us to say sorry every time the sun is about to set.
While putting Mother’s words into practice, I realized why Mother said that we should say sorry before the sun goes down. As I got rid of my pride, humbled myself, and apologized first, our hardened hearts melted like snow, and our love for each other became stronger and bound us to be one.
While running for the gospel, we sometimes unknowingly hurt brothers and sisters’ feelings or feel hurt. But we won’t be able to enter Heaven if our hearts are covered with hatred and complaints. I believe that the way to prevent such an unfortunate situation is to say sorry with a sincere heart before the sun goes down. Before the sun goes down, while we still have a chance, I will get rid of my hardened heart and pride and approach the brothers and sisters first so that we can become one in love; because even the opportunity to repent will be gone if the sun of the gospel goes down while I am still hesitating.