When you listen to the news it can be hard to find
forgiveness in your heart for the evils of the world. How do we forgive those
who murder children or who cause genocide and wide-spread anguish? Is it any
easier to forgive the person who steals your peace of mind by roaming the woods
and threatening lives with gunfire? What about the man or woman who thinks differently
than you do or who cuts you off in traffic? Perhaps you have a personal story
of someone who has caused you or your family harm-how do you forgive them?
Remember, forgiveness is not about excusing the wrong, but
about freeing yourself from being trapped by the memory of that trespass. I
have known people who are unable to forgive even little things and it binds
them to the past and ruins friendships and makes their lives very unhappy.
Part 1
Because forgiveness is really a difficult thing, it can help
to have something concrete to work on while praying for forgiveness. 
One thing you can do is find a selection of twigs and small
branches. Make them into a wreath, using a foam circle or just weaving them
together free form. As you make the wreath pray for those you need to forgive.
Start simple…with the person who cut you off at the grocery store.
You could also purchase a vine wreath from a craft store and
attach the names and/or actions that you are working to forgive.
Part 2
The Aramaic translation of
this line really hit home when I first read it. “Untie the knots of
failure binding us, as we release the strands we hold of others’ faults” it
says. Isn’t it very true that when we are unforgiving, we are really holding
onto the “strands” of whatever they did to wrong us? The other person may not
even know we feel hurt, but as long as we keep tying those knots, we’ll never
be free.
There
are many things in the world that we think we cannot or should not forgive. As
I said above, forgiving is not about excusing the wrong, but really it is all
about freeing yourself from being tied to the pain and anger of the memories. Sometimes,
too, it is about forgiving ourselves. Too often we can be harder on ourselves
than on anyone else…So if you need to ‘untie the knots…and release the strands
of [our own] faults’ as you pray for forgiveness, do it.
Tie knots in
a rope, one for each thing you need to forgive or be forgiven for. Use the
knotted rope as a prayer aid. Pray over each knot, and as you are able to let
go of that issue, untie the knot.
In
writing this I started to wonder if my own unforgiving attitude toward those
who have ‘trespassed against’ me is any less harmful than the fanaticism that
kills others because they do not believe in the same way or agree with a
certain leader…? An uncomfortable thought, isn’t it? Holding onto the “knots of
failure” and the “strands of others’ faults” doesn’t solve anything.
Paradoxical as it sounds, it is only in loving and “praying for those who
persecute you” that we find freedom ourselves.
Next week we’ll move on to looking at
Temptations!
