GREETINGS, friends! May the Silence that dwells in your heart radiate out to bless the world. We each have within us Love and Light that gives us the capacity to forgive one another, to be in solidarity with our wounded brothers and sisters and the world.
In our time the impulses of evil have become so powerful throughout earthly evolution that inner powers reaching far beyond what is ordinarily called good or moral will have to be found if humankind is to be able to cope with them. What is so particularly -- and immediately -- necessary in this connection is the mastering of that spiritual process which has been defined as "moral breathing", the beginning of which is forgiveness.
We can forgive! Everyone can forgive what lies within them to forgive. We can forget what ought to be forgotten instead of rummaging about amongst old injustices. We could draw a line beneath all the old that wear us down and which we are not in a position to get to the bottom of. We can hold fast to the idea that what is fruitful is alone true. We must be able to work together again, in harmony and without excluding the people we do not like ... out of love for humankind, for the whole of erring humanity.
Exaggerated repentance is a reverse form of pride. We are designed to acknowledge our imbalances, adjust for them and MOVE ON. Accepting forgiveness in every moment in which it is required, letting go of yesterday's failures, we move forward in healing... Our processes of healing will show us failures; we must see where we are going before we can adjust the course. However, the healing process does not define us! It is just the manner in which we awaken. It is vital to recognize the false pride of the sinner for what it is: a cop-out, an escape mechanism through which the fearful avoid responsibility -- and, as they eventually find out, salvation.
Forgiveness means accepting the core of every human being as the same as yourself and giving them the gift of not judging them. You can be clear about whether or not a person's behavior is acceptable without judging the person. Forgiveness starts with ourselves and extends to others. Accepting that the core of your own being is as precious and wonderful as that of any other person is the greatest gift you can ever give yourself.
If we cultivate a listening heart, we will hear the aspirations given to us by the Holy Spirit.
Part of my bedtime routine when I was a child was to say my prayers with my parents and then confess any wrong I had done during the day. Sometimes I made my parents sad, and myself, too, but my confessions were always followed by immediate forgiveness, by assurances of love, the love of my parents, the love of God. I am grateful for the teaching given me by my parents, because it grounded me in an awareness of God's all-embracing love.
Out of the depths I cry to You!
In your Mercy, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplications!
If You should number the times we
stray from You, O Beloved,
who could face You?
Yet You are ever ready to forgive,
that we might be healed.
I wait for You, my soul waits,
and in your Word, I hope;
My soul awaits the Beloved
as one awaits the birth
of a child, or
as one awaits the fulfillment
of their destiny.
When we condemn, we create a world of condemnation for ourselves, and we attract the condemnation of others; when we cling to an offense, we are clinging to precisely what separates us from our own fulfillment. Letting go means not only releasing the person who has wronged us, but releasing ourselves. A place opens up inside us where that person is always welcome, and where we can always meet again face to face... We receive exactly what we give. The more openhearted we are, the more we can experience the whole universe as God's grace. Forgiveness is essentially openness of heart. It is an attitude, not an action.
Forgiveness means "to give up resentment against". When we give up our resentment against another person, we are consciously choosing to not allow that person to exercise the power to make us angry. Forgiveness acknowledges that we are ultimately responsible for the world we create and how we feel about it... Through forgiveness we encounter the frail essence of the other ... this creates fertile ground where miracles occur, where avowed enemies join hands as friends.
O Thou, the sustainer of our bodies, hearts and souls, bless all that we receive in thankfulness. All is Thine, and will be returned to Thee. The kingdom, containing within it the knowledge which is the Divine Power itself, and the Glory which is the realization of or essential unity with Thee. Indeed what I am is the Love, the Lover, and the Beloved, yet all is Thine and I give it back to Thee with every breath of my body.