Returning Good for Evil

I am really looking forward to book club tomorrow night, where we'll be discussing The Kite Runner. I'd heard good things about Khaled Hosseini's first novel a couple of years ago, and I'd put it on my to read list, but had it not been chosen for this month's selection, I might never have moved it to the top of the list. Boy howdy, does it ever contain clear and memorable examples of all kinds of behavior, ranging from the telestial, to terrestrial, and on up to the celestial! Someone from the group asked me today how I liked the book, and I said I loved it. She went on to bemoan the dozen or so bad words and one particular terrible act of cruelty found within its pages, without mentioning the overall story of love, courage, forgiveness, and redemption it so powerfully imparts. As I said, there are definitely good guys and bad guys here, but it's the good that has stamped the strongest impression on my mind, almost dazzling me with its example of returning good for evil, filling me with the hope that I'll be able to do likewise. Jesus said, "...love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you...." But it's not often that we get to see this in practice, because these kinds of things are pretty personal, and also, they're most likely quite rare.

Here's one example from the book: Amir, the protagonist, describes an injustice he did at age 13.
"Then I took a couple of the envelopes of cash from the pile of gifts and my watch, and tiptoed out. I paused before Baba's study and listened in. He'd been in there all morning, making phone calls. ... I went downstairs, crossed the yard, and entered Ali and Hassan's living quarters by the loquat tree. I lifted Hassan's mattress and planted my new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it.
"I waited another thirty minutes. Then I knocked on Baba's door and told what I hoped would be the last in a long line of shameful lies."

Here's what happens when Baba, Amir's father, gathers Amir, and Ali and Hassan in his study to make inquiries. Amir says:
"They'd both been crying; I could tell from their red, puffed-up eyes. They stood before Baba, hand in hand, and I wondered how and when I'd become capable of causing this kind of pain.
"Baba came right out and asked. "Did you steal that money? Did you steal Amir's watch, Hassan?"
Hassan's reply was a single word, delivered in a thin, raspy voice: "Yes."
I flinched, like I'd been slapped. My heart sank and I almost blurted out the truth. Then I understood: This was Hassan's final sacrifice for me. If he'd said no, Baba would have believed him because we all knew Hassan never lied. And if Baba believed him, then I'd be the accused; I would have to explain and I would be revealed for what I really was. Baba would never, ever forgive me. ..."

Talk about taking on someone else's sins, Hassan, out of love, willingly does it for Amir. The story spans three decades of Amir's llife, a rocky journey indeed. But you won't be disappointed in the end. Or will you? All I know for sure is that I wasn't.