June and I enjoy watching Blue Bloods from time to time, the series about a family of cops in New York City:

The series follows the Reagans, a family who has a history of work in law enforcement. Frank Reagan is the New York Police Department Police Commissioner. Frank’s eldest son, Danny, is an NYPD detective, his youngest son, Jamie, is an NYPD sergeant, and his daughter, Erin, works as an assistant district attorney. – Wikipedia

Always behind, we’re nearly finished with Season 5 of 13 seasons, as of May 2023. Overall the series promotes values we applaud including the weekly family dinners after church on Sundays, Frank Reagan (played by Tom Sellick) is a wise, well-read leader who looks out for the people in the NYPD and the city. Sometimes Detective Danny, a former Marine, gets a bit out of hand, and it’s hard to get through an episode without seeing one or more characters with an alcoholic beverage – they are Irish Catholic after all. But, as I say, watching is generally a positive experience: usually, three problems/crimes are identified, staffed, and solved in 45 minutes.

But no matter what television shows we watch, I hope we’ll filter the behaviors of our favorite characters through the lens of scripture. We just watched Season 5, Episode 18, “Bad Company,” where the writers missed it, in my humble opinion. Commissioner Reagan is still in touch with a young woman, now in her 20s, whose parents and little brother were brutally murdered when she was six. She has just received a letter from prison from the murderer. He wants to meet with her.

She initially refuses, and there’s some discussion among the family and others as the episode progresses about whether or not a bad person can change. Frank and Danny are of the mind “Bad people don’t change.” On the other hand, Frank’s executive officer said to Frank, “I am of the firm conviction that people can change. Where there’s life, there’s hope. If I ever lose that conviction, please fire me on the spot.”

Frank and the young woman do meet with the murderer, an old man now, who has changed. The woman is understandably upset about the murder of her parents and brother and announces, “I will NEVER forgive you.” The murderer confesses his remorse and tells how a prison chaplain helped him while the murderer was recovering from an attempted suicide. “I found God. Rather, he found me…I spend my time helping other convicted criminals make peace with God…The only person I can’t save is you [the young woman he didn’t kill].” Their meeting ends with the woman saying, “Please try to kill yourself again, and this time, do it right!”

We need at least one more day on this, but in the meantime:

Bitterness (and lack of forgiveness) is like drinking poison and waiting for the other guy to die. – Navigator Skip Gray

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled. (Hebrews 12.15, ESV)

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6.14 – 15, ESV)