Forgiveness

We all get tired of being hurt, of being attacked as only humans can attack...with vengeance and malice.  At a very young age, we learn to go for the juggler, strike while the iron is hot and continue striking; these the ethics of humanity and herein lies the reason is why most people struggle with trust and letting others into their lives on a less than superficial level.  Over the years we become guarded, we fight to remain within our being and lose time with others, lose our sense of connection innate in every person.  Sure, we can become jaded, we can practice hatred, practice revenge but in the end, we have to be able to look at and live with our personal moral standing not that of our neighbor's.  What matters in life is not how many times we have been hurt, been ridiculed, been attacked; what matters is how many times we have forgiven.  This is not to say we have to become a doormat allowing others to walk all over us.  Forgiveness stems from our God connect; forgiveness takes strength, it takes courage, it takes faith while being a doormat requires only apathy.  Wounds can and do heal, if we let them, as God wraps us in love, slowly the pain of each wound subsides.  Unfortunately, the stubbornness of humanity stands in the way of most attempts to forgive as the mind remembers the sting of the initial cut and begins its own attack.  We need not walk into life on the defense nor need we be equipped to be on the offense we need only be; be the person our soul knows us to be, be alive in Christ, alive in His actions.  The only way to do this is to trust God.  So many times situations occur, immediately sending us on the attack and rising our guard at the same time.  Maybe, we need just listen, listen and hear the message stemming from anytime now situation.  This is not to say that God created a situation, good, or bad, that we may listen; everything and everyone has free will, the world is set in motion yet God speaks to us thru this motion, He tenderly speaks comforting our sorrow and celebrating our joy.  We can get so wrapped up in our humanity that we forget to listen, forget that we cannot have all that we want, we do not possess the ability to have it all 'Our way' for we are not alone in this world part of our struggle comes from learning how to interact with hatred, with jaded individuals who want only to inflict upon others the pain they, themselves feel.  We can fall into this trap, we can do as others do, playing follow the leader no matter the madness of said leader or we can stand alone and pay homage to our moral code, a code synthesized in love stemming from our ability to trust in the words and actions of Christ.  Really, everything boils down to, when we look into the mirror does hatred or love stare back?  Complex this is not, we can choose to let the actions of others change who we are, what what we stand for or not, it really is that simple.  The pain, the sadness is real but we cannot let either bypass our spiritual connection for in pain, when sad we need God most.  There will be no snap of the fingers, no wave of the magic wand to take away the pain, sadness and disappointment but these are no reasons to lose faith in God or doubt the worth of our beings.  Vengeful our humanity has become, infliction of hurt its pastime yet forgiveness a weapon no one can take from us, a weapon intended to inflict love and bring us back into communion as we strengthen our connection with a loving, caring, compassionate God whose life lessons of combating negativity,  hatred and malice found to be intertwined with humanity is eloquently portrayed in the prison of Jesus.  We must remember that while we forgive, while we let go and forget (because holding on to the hurt, the pain only festers more hurt, more pain) we must know that forgiveness does not me we need to put ourselves into the same situation to be hurt again.  Each of us is deserving of love, deserving of peace, deserving of respect thus we need to be treated with dignity for we are children of God made in His image and likeness.  Though we may turn the other cheek, there comes a time when we must walk away for our person, disrespected time and again deserves much more.  With each blow of anger, each strike of hatred, each acerbic swing comes a wound of pain, a wound of sadness, a wound of confusion.  Though wounded choice befalls our person: fight, flight or forgive.  Some believe forgiveness and flight to be synonymous yet this is not the case for flight requires no strength, no understanding of self worth, no desire to love; whereas forgiveness requires all these as well as a desire to deepen one's innately intimate relationship with the Father.  Forgiveness is a gift many know not how to work for they have learned not how to trust.  The most difficult part of forgiveness is to forgive when the inflicted pain was spiteful and without remorse.  Self worth, self love comes  into play in this case for an apology will never be given and worse yet, the beatings will continue, so we can become the sacrificial lamb or claim our self worth and move on, leaving behind each strike and allowing God's love to heal each wound.  Let not  pain, sadness and disappointment creep into the mold of our beings, let only goodness, faithfulness, trust in the Lord, understanding and compassion be that which forms our beings, forms our morality.  Let us struggle not to abide to God's code of ethics for it is He who granted us life, He whose love transforms, He who promises to carry us when we are weak, He who died on the Cross that we be granted the freedom of choice and live a life of love inspired by His Word.  Innately we know the proper treatment of others for innately we know God's love.  We can choose His loving hand or that of the cruelty of humanity; we can choose to act with faith, trust in God and live in love or we can choose to act with disregard, trust no one and live day by day wondering when the next blow will ensue.  The blows will come, humanity is skewed, yet it is our sharing in God's divinity which allows us to stand strong in His love to forgive the wrongs that have been inflicted upon us and the wisdom to know when to choose a new path.  We need to remember that we need not fear a new path for in each path God already exists for He dwells within our beings.  Fear not the world, be sadden, but fear it not for we are the change, we are the love it so desperately needs.  Trust is never broken with God, trust in the Lord at all times and love, true love, unconditional love the prize.