In my reading today, there was a passage about forgiveness. Forgiveness for even small judgments as well as great injustices. In a strange way, the great injustices of my life seem easier to forgive. It is so much easier to recognize how much the anger or resentment poisons my mind and how it cannot be personal. But the extent of forgiveness written about in this book is an incredible degree to aspire to. The kind of forgiveness that transcends desire and omits the possibility of any transgression in the same manner again. It's the small petty things like being angry at somebody for saying something negative about me or hitting on me at a party or cutting me off in traffic. Those things seem to really rattle my peace. In order to truly forgive these small things, I must reach a place where I recognize the truth that these transgressions are impersonal in nature and are derived from human conditions such as fear and not the spiritual condition of harmony. Now that is easy read, and easy to type about, but for the first time in a long time, I really have been able to see how much those small, petty, moments poison my mind. I forgive myself for my pettiness, but as it says in the book in order to have the "peace that passeth understanding" that is so often referred to but rarely understood, I must reach a place in my life, where I forgive myself and those who appear to transgress against me. According to what I read to day, which really struck something in me, that day of complete forgiveness comes on the day that I realize there is nothing to forgive, and that I can no longer repeat the pattern of behavior that got me to the point of pettiness.
That day may be a long way off. But I find my willingness to let go of my own transgressions of righteous indignation, judgment, and even and ambition is growing, SLOWLY. Manfred said dying is not that hard. I disagree.
Today 7 glasses of water, FIVE servings of fruits and vegetables, meditation, journal, chapter, yes and STICK FIGHTING for an hour. Yay!
Gratitude List - Theme forgiveness
1) KL
2) KT
3) AT
4) HR
5) B.
6) L.
7) JL
8) Daniel
9) K
10) KM
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2 comments:
The power of forgiveness is great! In the Bible when Jesus was asked how many times to forgive someone, Jesus said, "Seventy times seven". What does that mean? I think it means that we forgive as many times needed to forgive someone even if they keep doing the same wrong against you. Just like Jesus forgives us each time we sin, which for many of us is daily. It is He who gives you the "peace that passes all understanding." If you don't forgive those little things, those little things will add up and will "darken" your heart(or poison your mind, as you put it).
this is a very good subject of conversation.
You hit the nail on the head. The author of the book I'm reading actually used the same Jesus quote regarding forgiveness.
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