My dear
“To err is human… to forgive divine” they say.
We use this adage to buffer our inclination to forgive.
It isn’t natural, we think.
It requires an abundance of grace, we believe.
It needs divine intervention, we assume.
One has to be a real saint to forgive, we conclude!
And we continue on an err-ing highway without looking at our rear view mirror at the shadow-scars and damage we’ve left behind.
And the shadow-scars and damage are on us too!
Hurt and angry, we drive on hardly bothering to make a U-turn to go back and sort things out.
Go back?
Go forward would be more like it!
When we forgive we go forward springtiming ourselves as well as others into fresh seasons of renewed relationships and living.
There’s good news on that highway of misunderstanding, taking for granted, thoughtless judgements, hurt and similar upsets:
TO FORGIVE IS HUMAN TOO !!!
Let me say that boldly again : TO FORGIVE IS HUMAN TOO!
Haven’t you yourself done it sometime or the other? Often?
And aren’t you human? As human as the one you have forgiven?
To forgive does not mean that one has to deny or suppress the pain and hurt. One accepts it, gives it legitimate time to wander around one’s personal distress zones and find its place in one’s storehouse of lifetime experiences. Then one needs to put it aside and find a way of forgiving the one who has done us wrong.
Maybe one is a bit cautious with those who have hurt us and that is understandable.
But if there is a positive response to the forgiveness then there is mutual healing and the relationship can carry on comfortably.
And guess what? We ourselves get to feel a whole lot better after that.
Forgiveness frees us from giving to others the power to upset us. And that is a sensible, though perhaps difficult, human thing to do!
Give it a shot. You have nothing to lose but your own distress!
Take care. Stay well. Forgive and be forgiven!
Lots of love, Terry