On a dark afternoon -- I was ten or eleven -- I was walking on a country road, on my left a patch of curly kale, on my right some yellowed Brussel sprouts. I felt a snowflake on my cheek, and from far away in the charcoal-gray sky I saw the approach of a snowstorm. I stood still. Some flakes were now falling around my feet. A few melted as they hit the ground. Others stayed intact. Then I heard the falling of the snow, with the softest hissing sound.
I stood transfixed, listening ... and knew what can never be expressed: that the natural is supernatural, and that I am the eye that hears and the ear that sees, that what is outside happens in me, that outside and inside are unseparated. It is the inexpressible, and the inexpressible is the only thing that it is worthwhile expressing.
True forgiveness blesses all and begins in the heart of the individual. As we give ourselves and others truly righteous thoughts for all inharmonious ones, we are making ready the harvest of a great spiritual feast which is certain to follow the seedtime. Forgiveness has two-fold mission. It frees both the erring and loving one, for back of the application of forgiveness is a deep, radiant love, a love founded on principle, a love that desires to give for the joy of giving with no thought of reward.
Every time you forgive, you dissolve a condition you have placed on your own capacity to love. Every time you forgive, love is awakened in you more deeply and your capacity to extend love is increased. That is the nature of the journey.
Bless all you've been, bless who you are now, bless who you are becoming, and then, as after forgiveness, let go...
Forgiveness means that I am willing to forgive the other person for not being God -- for not fulfilling all my needs. I, too, must ask forgiveness for not being able to fulfill other people's needs. Our heart -- the center of our being -- is part of God. Thus our heart longs for satisfaction and total communion... But since we want so much and we get only a part of what we want, we have to keep on forgiving people for not giving us all we want. The interesting thing is that when you can forgive people for not being God, then you can celebrate that they are a reflection of God.
We hunger to be known and understood. We hunger to be loved. We hunger to be at peace inside our own skins. We hunger not just to be fed these things but, often without realizing it, hunger to feed each other these things because they too are starving for them. We hunger not just to be loved but to love, not just to be forgiven but to forgive, not just to be known and understood, but to know and understand each other to the point of seeing that in the last analysis we all have the same good times, the same bad times, and that for that very reason there is no such thing in the world as anyone who is really a stranger.
Forgiving, truly and deeply forgiving, sets in motion mighty waves of love that flow down from the very gates of heaven, washing and making clean everything in its path. When this happens, everything is made new, and the shadows of pain and confusion are illuminated with understanding.
Recent studies have validated the brain/earth relationship through magnetics. Ancient texts tell us that the body seeks a harmonic balance with the earth. This balance is the goal of the life experience, and may be consciously regulated through non-polarized thoughts of forgiveness and feelings of compassion.
When I feel betrayed by someone, instead of sulking, clinging to my resentment and playing the role of victim, I am challenged to strengthen my soul through forgiveness. By forgiving the person who hurt me, I strengthen my soul... And each time we are called upon to forgive, we nourish our souls and learn more about who we are and what we have to share in this world.
~ John Gray in HANDBOOK OF THE SOUL by Joan Borysenko
True forgiveness always has a sacrificial character. It can never have a passive character. For we do not simply make a decision to "forget" the wrong or injustice that has been perpetrated upon us but, in addition, we take upon ourselves an inner obligation to MAKE AMENDS for the objective harm which evil action has wrought not only upon us but also upon the world. In true forgiveness we willingly, out of complete inner freedom, take upon ourselves an inner obligation to give the world as much compassion, love, and goodness as the evil action has objectively taken away from it.
~ from THE HIDDEN SIGNIFICANCE OF FORGIVENESS by Prokofieff with thanks to Elaine Laforet
When two persons want reconciliation through forgiveness, the whole cosmos is involved, and the energy springing from forgiveness is released for other forms of service. Forgiveness makes possible a deeper communion than that which existed before. One can begin to see another reason why forgiveness is important. Its importance is on the scale of evolution and it springs from the Creator of evolution. It invariably releases love, and love is the energy of creation.
~ from SHAPING A PERSONAL MYTH TO LIVE BY by John Yungblut
Faithful creator, You are the source and resource of all purposed and created life. In an attitude of gratitude I accept your encouragement to learn what it means to be authentically human and make peace with my own humanity, so that I can accept a sacredness of other beings. With thanksgiving I accept the spiritual, ethical and moral responsibility for my own inner healing and joy. I embrace the mystery of healthy loving relationships as I learn to be an agent of change, reason and tenderness upon the earth that is an outpouring of your love for all life. I accept your help so that I may learn to live honorably in covenant community, lifting my voice in care, over criticism. Amen.
