forgiveness

[norral]

i am reading the book practicing peace by catherine whitmire a practicing quaker.

there is one story in there that i want to share. david n. was teahing at a quaker school in burundi in 1993 during the hutu tutsi conflicts. his school was attacked by soldiers and their collaborators. he managed to escape and he hid for one week. he returned to the school to find it full of flies feeding on the dead bodies of his former students. he sat down and cried , fell into a deep depression and was on the verge of asking god to take his life. he said he then received this spiritual message

come to terms with what has happened and offer forgiveness to the men who have committed this atrocity. he struggled with this message wondering if this was what christ really expected of him , to forgive in the face of this great evil. a short time later he encountered a man in the street who had collaborated with the soldiers in this act of incredible evil. to his surprise he found himself taking the mans hand and saying "by gods power i forgive u for your part in this massacre " he says upon doing this he experienced a deep sense of peace and he realized that he , thru his forgiveness had helped to bring gods love into this world. might i add also that he freed himself from the slavery of desiring vengence upon the perpertrators of this foul deed. his life was transfomed by his act of forgiveness on that day and he freed himself to become a positive force on this planet.

i personally have never add anything occur in my life such as what he experienced . but the truth is that as long as we live in a state of unforgiveness we are imprisoned by that very same unforgiveness. so the thought of vengence is most definitely sweet i will not lie about that but that same desire for vengence locks us into a prison of our own making. so even though i most definitely feel passionately about the injustices of this world i do not hate those who commit these acts. that is between them and god. and will stand up and speak out and let my voice be heard but i will not hate and be imprisoned by the very act that i abhor

norral

[Diana]

These are very wise words Norral.

[kycahi]

That's wonderful testament, norral. The story is well-told and you show true understanding of forgiveness, a word that exemplifies truly seeing the One in all. Forgiveness, as the truth, sets us free.

[Ashim]

Don't be too over 5d+ compassion - they 'deserve' what they get.
Reaping and sowing...........

[abstrktion]

The hardest part of forgiveness seems to be to allow the other person to change and grow after they've "wronged" you. Sometimes I think that even after an apology and change, we want to hold the other person in the perspective we previously held. I've seen this at my work where the initial complaint someone had no longer exists in the person he was upset with a couple of years ago, but he wants to hold on to that lens and see everything through it.

[Diana]

The hardest part of forgiveness seems to be to allow the other person to change and grow after they've "wronged" you. Sometimes I think that even after an apology and change, we want to hold the other person in the perspective we previously held. I've seen this at my work where the initial complaint someone had no longer exists in the person he was upset with a couple of years ago, but he wants to hold on to that lens and see everything through it.

Very astute and part of the subtlety of detachment and "forgiving." We must forgive ourselves as well in any scenario, and if we haven't, we may still be projecting on the "other." I have caught myself in this. Long after I thought I had moved on from a client who dropped me after many years of relationship, a trigger came out of the blue and my emotions surfaced. One helpful thing I did was compose a letter to them, all the principals, and thank them for our years together and forgive them in writing. I never sent it; it was for me. I cried much over it, but it helped me release my pain. It also helped me to be honest with myself about how I could have handled things differently.

[Meerie]

that is a good perspective, Diana.
I also did that once, composing a letter that I never sent, that helped me release my feelings. And you know what, the "information" is still out there, even if the letter does not physically reach the other person.
And the higher self of the other is surely aware of that.

[Diana]

that is a good perspective, Diana.
I also did that once, composing a letter that I never sent, that helped me release my feelings. And you know what, the "information" is still out there, even if the letter does not physically reach the other person.
And the higher self of the other is surely aware of that.

Yes, you make a great point about the higher selves of the others being aware of it. I hadn't thought of that. Thank you.

[abstrktion]

Maybe this is an odd perspective...but here goes...

Last summer, a friend of mine who channels told me that I had come in with the intent of experiencing rejection (yeah, great plan I thought to myself...why not, oh say, abundant riches and unfailing love and devotion?).Anyways, as I examined my life, I realized that there was a good deal of evidence to support that claim--that I had experienced both acceptance and rejection in varied and significant ways, almost like my life was a study of the different forms it could take and both sides of it. Since I do think we program more and more of our own catalyst, it may be the case that in some ways, there is nothing to forgive, for no "wrong" has really been done, despite the hurt I may have felt or caused. When we all cross over, will we all be high-fiving each other over the great job we did fulfilling our roles as catalyst for one another?