Forgive 360

“The greatest challenge we humans now face is not scientific or technological or even economic. It is emotional… The real demon is the ignorance and fear that lead to the hatred that leads to the judgments that lead to the killings in wars. No one is free of it. All we can do is try to refuse to live under its rule. All we can do is try to forgive.”
Edward Hallowell: Dare to Forgive

In their book The Spirituality of Imperfection, Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham tell the story of the innkeeper who kept two ledgers, one recording the sins he had committed and the other recording bad things that had happened to him. At the end of each year, he read both journals. Then he confessed his sins, but reminded God that many bad things had happened to him as well. “We are beginning a new year,” he concluded. “Let us wipe the slate clean. I will forgive you, and you forgive me.”

Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, war, and other “Acts of God,” large and small, will cause you pain. If it is beyond the capacity of your faith to believe that God acts for good reasons, then try forgiveness. It may be the only way for you to let go of a malignant resentment than can block you from further development.