 |
|
|
Thought Provoking: Forgiveness
-by Daniel
We are taught from childhood all the way through our lives that to give absolute forgiveness is what is expected of us and is the righteous thing to do. Society, religious groups, etc., are masters of judging each and every one of us. They expect us to forgive, and condemn us when we do not. Most of us say, and even feel, we can forgive anyone for any thing done to hurt us. We are taught this. It is placed in our minds and we accept it blindly. But how many of us are truly tested? We feel to forgive is a testament to our divineness, Godlike.
But we need to see that we are not Godlike and far from being a divine creation. Most are far from these. We tend to place ourselves on a pedestal, have a holier-than-thou attitude and become self-righteous. We see ourselves as perfect in the world of religious purity. We do not see our true inner self. We do not seek the truism of ourselves.
I am not responding in any direction relative to forgiving or not forgiving. My point is this: To accept what we think we are without truly being severely tested is an un-honest evaluation of ourselves or our beliefs.
Place yourself in this scenario. You have an extremely happy family. You have a five-year-old daughter who brings only joy and happiness to your life. She is your life. She is so innocently beautiful, never a bad thought or deed. She brings joy to all around and your love to each other is totally pure.
Then one day a 30-year-old man takes her away. Your life is empty and full of fear, your heart and dreams shattered. For a week she is forced to perform sexual acts to the man and his friends. She is repeatedly raped over and over and in every conceivable way. She is torn and bleeding, screaming in agonizing pain and fear. The people have done everything they wanted and slit her throat and throw her lifeless body into a lake.
A few days later she is found and identified. The man is apprehended a few weeks later. He smiles during questioning and confesses in laughter to this horrific, unimaginable crime against a beautiful, helpless little girl.
How can we expect a parent to give absolute forgiveness to this murdering being? I'm sure the preachers, priests, etc., of the world would demand us to forgive. But could they if this happened to them? They would publicly state they have forgiven the evil doer his crime. But did they? They must say they forgave because that is their belief and they preach it. But I feel strongly their heart has not. I do not feel God, The Great Spirit, Buddha, Allah, etc., would condemn a parent who did not forgive in this case. I do believe these entities would forgive us for not forgiving. For they are truly divine and all-forgiving if our feelings and heart are pure to our actions.
To speak the words isn’t to forgive. Forgiveness is a state of mind and heart that has come to peace with itself. But when your mind "sees" the crime over and over and the heart is broken, empty, there is not forgiveness. But not to forgive is not saying you can not be at peace with yourself.
I for one would not condemn, blame, or hold against anyone for not forgiving. For those who feel they would forgive in this situation, they need to look sternly at themselves in the mirror to see their true self. To forgive or not to forgive relates to what was done, the amount of suffering it caused, and be true to your feelings and heart – not what is expected of us by "others." The "others" have not been severely tested and I hope they never are. For they will see their true selves and will be shocked at what they see and feel. Most people do not even know what true faith is all about.
Unless you have been "there," do not be critical of those who "have." There are times to forgive and times not to forgive. Get real!!!
Email address: Tuueagles@aol.com
Copyright © 1999 . All Rights Reserved.