Perspectives on Forgiveness
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Perspectives on Forgiveness
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Perspectives on Forgiveness
Without forgiveness, life is governed by an endless cycle
of resentment and retaliation.
Perhaps forgiveness is the last thing mentioned in the
Creed because it is the last thing learned in life. Perhaps none of us can
understand the forgiveness of God until we ourselves have learned to forgive.
If you want to see the brave, look at those who can
forgive. If you want to see the heroic, look at those who can love in return for
hatred.
The practice of forgiveness is not only, or even
primarily, a way of dealing with guilt. Instead, its central goal is to
reconcile, to restore communion — with God, with one another, and with the whole
creation.
Never forget that to forgive yourself is to release
trapped energy that could be doing good work in the world.
Forgiveness is something freely granted, whether earned or
deserved; something lovingly offered without thought of acknowledgment or
return. It is our way of mirroring the goodness in the heart of a person rather
than raising up the harshness of their actions....it allows us to live in the
sunlight of the present, not the darkness of the past. Forgiveness alone, of all
our human actions, opens up the world to the miracle of infinite possibility.
The capacity to forgive is the capacity to let go of ego.
The whole witness of Jesus' life and death is to the
unfathomable depths of God's forgiveness. English poet and artist William Blake
cites the capacity of Jesus to forgive another, and to reenter vulnerably into
the deepest relation with another, as the strongest evidence of his being God in
the flesh.
The practice of forgiveness is our most important
contribution to the healing of the world.
Forgiveness seems to remain a theme waiting to be explored
in depth in our present age. This deep and extensive kind of loving of enemies,
while it has long roots in our tradition, seems to have become a theme of
special urgency in our contemporary world.
Forgiveness is a complex experience that changes an
offended person's spiritual feelings, emotions, thoughts, actions, and
self-confidence level. I believe learning to forgive the hurts and grudges of
our life may be an important step for us to feel more hopeful and spiritually
connected and less depressed. These changes improve our health and give us more
energy to create a better life for ourselves. They allow our bodies to function
in an optimal way. |
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