Forgive Them was written in 1976 for a Good Friday Service held at my parish.  Only of my elderly friends, Leo Strutzel, was very moved by it and, with tears in his 80 year eyes, told me so.

Very shortly after that night, Leo had a stroke which left most of his left side damaged.  He was a strong man with a gentle heart who was cared for primarily and most lovingly by his wife.  After some time, I went over to see Leo and took my guitar, spending an hour singing old Christian hymns and (at the time) contemporary folk favorites.  At one point, he mumbled the words, “Forgive Them”.  To this day, I really don’t know for sure if that’s what he said but I played the song for him.  The right side of his face smiled while the left drooled a bit but in both eyes, were tears.

That was the last time I had the opportunity to spend time with Leo as he died very shortly after that night.  

Over the years, I didn’t have too many occasions to play Forgive Them other than at a Good Friday Service and at Reconciliation services at retreats.  It got lost in my repertoire of concert selections and as the days of doing concerts passed, the only time I sang it was when I was alone.

Fast forward about 30 years…Christy called me after looking through and listening to some of the songs on this website.  “Dad, have you ever recorded Forgive Them?  I’ve always loved that song.”  After a couple of weeks, I spent some time getting reacquainted with it; thought of Leo and went into the studio. 

Thank you, Leo and Christy.