thinking on forgiveness

Patience, kindness, long suffering, endurance, empathy, compassion, and many more God like qualities are all needed for the one act of forgiving. I think of how quickly my daughter forgives me when I make a mistake. I enforce rules that she doesn't understand. She may not like it, but she still forgives me. She shows me compassion, love, and patience regardless of my parental errors.

As we grow older, more cynical, less compassionate, and more self serving, we seem to think more of the laws of justice than the laws of mercy. Forgiveness requires a lot of mercy - making allowances for the mistakes others make, even when it doesn't seem fair.

I've been thinking about this because my feelings were hurt. I cried and cried. My daughter gave me a hug and my husband told me I was loved. Yet, the hurt was still there. People say you are in charge of your own emotions. Some people say to just brush it aside and remember everyone is human. But then, what do you do with the real feelings you felt? Bottle them? Ignore them? Change them? How do you change them?

With his arm around me, my husband said, "you just need to forgive and then it will all be better."

Forgiveness is a requirement for all of us, even if we were the hurt party. Festering emotions can only lead to more and sometimes deeper pains. Once we forgive, we can move on and bury the pain away - a pain that won't fester, but will be a distant reminder of a life lesson learned.