The Willingness To Forgive
“The air I breathe is the very hate I have for that guy.” Over the years that sentence has ruptured in me over and over again. So tied up with pain and contempt it’s unable to see grace, mercy and especially forgiveness. A dear friend said that to me over dinner one night. It kills me knowing he’s so deeply wounded. What really distracts me and sends me to my knees are the moments in between those breaths. That hateful energy seems to reform his pain. Like a crazy meme looping the abuse over and over again, unable to swipe away. Then once again the hate hits his soul with debilitating strength, only wanting to breathe more. It is the worst of prisons. it might even be Hell. His fight with his friend ended years ago. Now, he fights himself within the air he breathes. He sees forgiveness as weakness. The hate keeps him emotionally unavailable. He has cut all deep intimate relationships away. Those he chooses to hang with only serve as cheerleaders standing outside that hell yelling, “keep going! You’re right!” It's a dismal story. It breaks my heart. Forgiveness is freedom from every prison we build. It's that easy. The pains of the past need mercy and grace to enter it’s hopeful day. The “how” to forgive seems perplexing. It’s methodology counter intuitive. The idea that we honor mistakes, pains and abuses by relinquishing their power is so foreign to us we disavow grace like a rotten fruit. Forgiveness needs one thing: courage. Courage to stop fighting. Courage to love. Courage to join in unitive consciousness we are all the same. Human and faulty. Human and loving. Human and forgiving. We desire to love. We desire to be loved.
Who needs your forgiveness?
Receive these daily. Sign up for Your Life’s Work email here
Are you interested in spiritual direction? Here’s how to get started.
Step 1. Schedule a complimentary, no-obligation consult. Do that here.
Step 2. Watch your email for questions from me. Before we hop on the phone, I’d like to know a bit about you and what you’d like to get out of spiritual direction or coaching with me.
Step 3. Hit “reply” to that email and answer the questions.
Step 4. At the scheduled time of your consult, we’ll talk! We’ll use the opportunity to make sure we’re the perfect fit.
Step 5. Then we’ll get started! If you decide to work with me, I’ll tell you the exact steps for getting started. If you decide not to work with me or if we aren’t a perfect fit, I’m happy to share other resources to help you get what you need.
Have questions? You can call me… 619.964.0337
