Forgiveness. A topic so important in the Christian faith that it is mentioned twice in The Lords Prayer:
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
A forgiving God. And yet the words of the prayer specifically say 'forgive us our trespasses AS WE FORGIVE those who trespass against us'. And so we are actually praying to be forgiven for the wrong things we have done in the SAME way that we ourselves forgive others for the wrong things we feel they have done to us. Be that cutting us up on a roundabout or saying or doing things that are hurtful to us. Big or small. They all come under trespasses. They all need forgiveness.
Forgiving can be so so hard. And maybe it is just me, but there seems to often be times when I feel hurt by others. And I'm pretty certain I need forgiveness from someone else every day sometimes.
I figure the only thing I can do in all this is change myself. If I allow a particular person to keep hurting me then I need to change. I'm the only person that I can change in the whole world so it's probably a sensible starting place.
Forgiving others gives us peace. It is a gift we give to ourselves. I love the quote from the Dalai Lama I believe that says 'holding on to anger is like swallowing poison and expecting the other person to die from it' (or something like that). If we hold onto our anger and hurt and pain we are poisoned by it. It is us that needs to forgive those who trespass against us, for our own sanity, for our own inner peace.
Ok so how? How do I change? How do I even begin to forgive? Louise Hay say that being WILLING to forgive someone is a good place to start. Hmm. I can see that. I can see that perhaps I need to open myself up to being willing to let go of my righteous anger. "But he/she HURT me...." my brain cries. "I can't forgive THAT..." And so yes, I can see that just opening up a crack to let in the willingness to forgive is probably a good place to start.
And then prayer. I'm hoping that once I am open to the idea of forgiveness I can more effectively ask for help from the huge, powerful forces in this universe...
"Our Father, who art in Heaven....
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us....
Amen."
And so it begins...