Bury the Hatchet

When I was a kid we had an old neighbor that heated his small home with a pot bellied stove. Do you remember those?

Out back of his house he had a woodpile and that is where he split wood. When he was finished with his hatchet, he would stick it into a nearby tree.

As the man aged and his health deteriorated someone got him a different kind of heat and the hatchet was not used.

When the man died, his family came to clean out his house and prepared to sell it. Someone tried to pull the hatchet from the tree, but over the years the tree had grown and healed around it making it impossible to pull out.

The Iroquois Indians are noted for the term, "bury the hatchet." They convinced the Five Nations (the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca) to stop fighting amongst themselves and form a confederacy. To seal this agreement they buried their weapons.

This was to signify that there was now peace and there would be no more fighting.

I often hear the phrase bury the hatchet. It is often used today when two people or parties stop fighting. But I don't think the significance is the same. 

I sometimes wonder if anyone really understands forgiveness. 

People may stop quarreling, may stop talking, may even make an effort to get along, but if any little thing comes between them, then it is right back to square one. They again pick up the old junk and everything escalates.

Maybe we should learn a lesson about burying the hatchet, whether it's in a tree or underground. Let's get rid of it so that we can never pick it up again.

What if God did not forgive forever? But don't worry He does. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Psalms 103:12 NASB)

Think of those with which you squabble, think of those that hurt you again and again, bury the hatchet. Get rid of it once and for all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. (Romans 12:18 NASB)