Monday, September 21, 2009

Finding foregivenss

Could you forgive the man who killed your daughter?
Can you forgive the one who molested you.... or your child?
Have you forgiven your former spouse for breaking your heart?
Can you forgive those who have hurt or betrayed you?
Before you answer that, let's define forgiveness. I have just finished the book, The Shack by Wm. Paul Young. http://www.theshackbook.com.
It's an amazing story about love, relationship, God .... and forgiveness.
Forgiveness is something I struggle with, sometimes. There are people and situations I forgive easily -- finding it best to accept people and situations for what they are and move on.
There are a few people, one in particular, whom I have trusted in the past and am feeling betrayed. In the book, the author asserts that forgiveness is not about passing judgement or forgetting the pain someone has caused. It's not about burying feelings. Forgiveness is about letting go of the other one's throat. It's about moving on -- letting God and the Universe take care of people and matters as they see fit. It's about removing that burden from your heart to make room for other, more loving, people and emotions.
This afternoon, I took a walk -- not a long one, mind you. I set forth with a mission to let go of the anchors of resentment I've been packing around for quite some time. With each step, I dropped the weight.
Fear.
Anger.
Shame.
Disappointment.
Betrayal.
Hurt.
Pain.
In a few short steps I felt like I was on my true path. The path that lead to the light and pure love.
I had hoped, in all honesty to feel lighter than air. That I was walking above the gravel below.
Instead, I have this overwhelming feeling that this walk was just a small part of the journey ahead. That the doors opening up to me will be filled with powerful visions -- the dreams that are coming true in each moment.
The other issue the book pointed out is that we as humans spend most of our time with our heads in the future or in the past -- I know I certainly do. But spending time in what has happened or what might happen takes us off our path and away from the Light of Love.
I find myself easily distracted -- by a thread on Facebook, or an email from a friend ... anything really -- as it doesn't take much to throw me off track.
But when I tune in -- when I focus on the needs of right now -- amazing things happen. With that in mind I've been trying to eliminate distractions. No easy task, let me assure you.
I end up, really, being quite confused as disconnection seems so lonely and connection, albeit electronic seems so.... not...lonely.
While I know it seems arrogant, I feel like I'm bound for some great destiny as yet unknown. Treasures untold. And I'm close... so very close... but there are more burdens to unload. Baggage to leave behind until what remains, is pure and solid ....open to the grand possibilities of the Universe and beyond.

2 comments:

Sally said...

A couple of years ago I realized I needed to forgive someone who had hurt me deeply, without knowing how much pain he'd inflicted. But I had almost given up acting thanks to our interactions. I knew that to heal and move on, I had to forgive him. And I knew that forgiving him meant letting go of all the baggage I was carrying around. To truly forgive him, I had to really give it all up. It couldn't just be lip service.

So I sat with it for a bit. I thought about all of the things he'd done, all of the wrongs, slights, injustices, cruelties, every hurt he'd inflicted. I looked at all of them again. I let them hurt me again, and then I gathered the weight of all that pain into one breath, said, "I forgive you," and let it all go.

He has turned out to be one of my favorite fellow artists to work with. You never know what forgiveness will bring you.

Unknown said...

A wise priest once told me to let go and let God. though at the time i didn't undertand why he didn't finish the sentence, I finally realized that what he said was a sentence. I still struggle with doing this, but am getting better.