Friday, October 15, 2010

Forgiveness....and then some

What is the most difficult thing you have ever had to forgive?

I was reading through a Reader's Digest magazine the other day and came across an article about the genocide in Rwanda.  The article described a woman and a man who had both been involved in the genocide and who were acting in a new play about the struggles of the people of that region.  The play is about a woman who forgives her sister's killer.

It got me thinking about the power of forgiveness.  As well as the many times I have forgiven others.

What I have come to realize is that ultimately the forgiveness comes around to me.  I willingly forgive someone for their "wrong doing" and then am faced with or find that I have forgiven myself for believing that someone would intentionally do something wrong towards me.

Here's where I'm getting at. 

Each and every act is an act towards the self.

Each and every situation, no matter what the circumstances and details is an act towards the self.

When we gossip about someone.  We are gossiping about ourselves.

When we hurt someone.  We are hurting ourselves.

When we criticize, judge and blame someone.  We are criticizing, judging and blaming ourselves.

The person whom we are directing all of this at is merely a visual substitute for ourselves.

It's an interesting experiment.  The next time you are in a foul mood and are projecting that in an outward direction, bring it back for a minute and ask yourself "is this how I feel about myself?"

9 times out of 10 you will find that the comments, attitude and negativity are truer when you relate them to yourself than they are when you relate them to someone else.

On the positive side.  The same is true for all the love that we give out in a day.  We are projecting all of that love out to others, and it really is how we feel about ourselves!

1 comment:

I enjoy receiving your respectful comments :)