Forgiveness

Forgiveness is a key concept in the Bible. Jesus even included a few petitions on the topic in his prayer to the good Lord (forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us). Yet for as much as we talk about it...what does it actually mean? How does it feel? What does it change?

I read an interesting article today on mindful.org (found here). It describes forgiveness as the following:

Forgiveness, as you may have heard or experienced, is simply the act of letting go of the burden that you carry from another person who has hurt you out of their own pain, ignorance, or confusion. It’s a practice of freeing up your energy to focus on things that incline toward your own health and well-being or the health and well-being of others.

The act of letting go of the burden that you carry form another person.

Letting go.

Various forms of these two words keep showing up everywhere in my life lately.

So I'm taking it as God's nudging me to forgive, to let go, to find peace. I want to learn to trust. I want to learn to willingly receive help. I want open up new space in my heart that is currently so very focused on keeping all people happy at all times (a fruitless endeavor). I sense that letting go is a key process in reaching these goals.

The video above leads the listener through a guided practice of forgiveness. I hope you'll find it helpful.