forgiveness

I have been reading AnneDroid lately, a prison chaplain who blogs at Get Out Of Jail Free.

There is some great stuff on her site, including this really good post on Forgiveness - in a few short paragraphs she sums up some of the most profound truths about forgiving wrongdoing, what forgiveness is, what it isn't, what are the limits and its freedoms.

Bitterness is more than just a negative outlook on life. It's a very destructive and self-destructive power. It's just like a dangerous, poisonous mould or spore because it thrives in the dark recesses of the heart and feeds on every new thought of spite or hatred that comes our way...

...On the other hand, forgiveness is a door to peace and happiness. It is a small, narrow, hard-to-find door, and can't be entered without stooping humbly. But no matter how long the search, it can be found and it has the potential to lead to the most amazing freedom.

Forgiving has absolutely nothing to do with human fairness...

But it does mean making a conscious decision to stop hating, because hating can never help...

She also has a recommendation for further reading, always good. Go read!

Comments

[Anne P]

Thank you for this - it's very timely.

[AnneDroid]

Hi! And thanks! "Why Forgive?" by Johann Christoph Arnold was my source for this - he's the one who deserves the credit - and I really recommend it. Bite sized chunks of powerful personal stories. And indeed they are so emotionally challenging to read I don't really suggest reading it at a sitting - just read a bite or two at a time. It's very realistic, though, and doesn't make forgiveness sound at all glib or easy but looks the issues full in the face.
Ax

[Ruth Hull Chatlien]

This is beautiful and an important message to put out there. I wonder if anyone ever gets to a place where forgiveness isn't hard work. Well, . . . God of course, but besides him. Anyway, it's good to be reminded to choose forgiveness rather than bitterness. Thanks.

[Neale]

Forgiveness: Great topic to consider today, given the lectionary - martyrdom of Stephen. If he hadn't forgiven those stoning him, and asked God to, the young guy holding the stoners coat, Saul, probably wouldn't later have had the vision on the Damascus Road, and Christianity might have ended up a minor Jewish sect. Forgiveness has power!