Religion Today: Inigo Montoya
Guest Writer Spotlight: Inigo Montoya – By Richard Lewis
“I’ve been in the revenge business so long, now that it’s over, I don’t know what to do with the rest of my life.”
Inigo Montoya
In the movie “The Princess Bride” one of the main characters was Inigo Montoya. Montoya had spent his whole life seeking revenge against the murderer of his father. He had rehearsed in his mind again and again the moment when he would have his revenge. He had trained and practiced his sword fighting so that he would be ready when he found the evil 6-fingered man. He had practiced the speech of what he would say at that moment, “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die”.
At the beginning of the movie he shares how he had not found the 6-fingered man and had begun to lose hope he would ever be able to exact his revenge. After he was able to have the revenge he sought for so long, he wondered what he will do with the rest of his life, “I’ve been in the revenge business so long, now that it’s over I don’t know what to do with the rest of my life.”
SEE OTHER RECENT RELIGION TODAY ARTICLES:
Get ready for the unexpected with a disaster go-bag, an essential tool for emergency preparedness
Religion Today: Zoom Weddings – A Pandemic Blessing for Some Couples
Of course, this is a fictional movie but I would submit that many of us are not much different than Inigo Montoya. We may have rehearsed a moment of sweet revenge in our minds. There seem to be so many people who are injured by past events and have their lives impacted in their present and future.
Now I would be quick to say that if you were wronged in a situation where laws have been broken, you certainly need to take the appropriate action to have the authorities stop the perpetrator from hurting others.
However, no matter what the situation, the bible does not really give us ground to stand on for when it comes to withholding forgiveness.
In the movie “The Princess Bride”, Inigo Montoya had spent his whole life seeking revenge against the murderer of his father and had rehearsed in his mind again and again the speech of what he would say at that moment, “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die”. However, toward the end of the movie he lamented, “I’ve been in the revenge business so long, now that it’s over, I don’t know what to do with the rest of my life.”
When we sow the seeds of unforgiveness the crop that sprouts up can be a heart filled with hatred and violence. We are offended and allow that anger and unforgiveness to fester to the point where it explodes. We regularly see people who are responding to category 3 stimulus with a category 10 response. We need only look to the headlines to see what the fruit of anger looks like.
The bible warns us that uncontrolled anger takes us down a road where we invite Satan to have an influence in our lives. Interestingly, that caution was a warning written to the Christians in the church at Ephesus:
Ephesians 4:26-27 “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry and do not give the devil a foothold.”
We sometimes wait for an apology or confession from a wrongdoer the reality is that confession will very likely never come. We envision in our minds a perfect moment when we will receive an apology but alas the perpetrator will not admit to their actions or will sometimes even blame the victim.
SEE OTHER RECENT DEVOTIONALS BY RICHARD LEWIS:
Religion Today: The Banana Peel of Entitlement
Religion Today: Corinthian Leather
Religion Today: Am I Going to Die?
This is why God calls us to forgive. We seek a way to make things right on a human level when this has already been done for us at the Divine level by Jesus:
Matthew 18:21&22 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
1John 3:15 “Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.”
1John 4:20 “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.”
Richard Lewis is a graduate of Arizona State University (Advertising) and California Baptist University (Computer Information Systems). Richard and his wife Sue met while they served as staff members at Campus Crusade for Christ for 8 years in the 1970’s. Richard served in the Campus Ministry at University of Texas at El Paso, Louisiana Tech and at the International Headquarters in San Bernardino, California.
Following their ministry in Campus Crusade Richard was the owner and manager of a bicycle shop in Riverside California for 19 years. After retraining in the computer field at California Baptist University, Richard worked as a Information Systems contractor and employee at Boeing for 17 years. Richard has written over 150 published articles in Information Systems and Computing publications including Windows Magazine and Windows Scripting Solutions. Richard has served in a leadership role as a Deacon and Elder in several churches as well as being a meditation presenter and Men’s Ministry coordinator.
Richard has written hundreds of meditations and devotionals that have been used in church and small group meetings. Many of these have been published in The Upper Room and Racers For Christ publications and on their web sites.
In 2021 Richard published a collection of his devotionals. These are available in a Kindle and paperback format on Amazon (ISBN 979-8705738878) “Life Stories to Uplift and Encourage”.
Want to be featured in a future “Guest Writer Spotlight” article?
Contact the editor: [email protected]
Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).
Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.