Take a centered breath. Breathing in 1, 2, 3, 4 and out 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
again Breathing in 1, 2, 3, 4 and out 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
and again Breathing in 1, 2, 3, 4 and out 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Take a gentle moment and consider what salvation looks like in your life today. Ask yourself...
What might salvation look like in your life today?
Where must I ask for forgiveness? Where am I withholding it?
What repair is mine to make? What expectation must I release to God?
Now, let us speak this gentle invitation from Bishop Tutu:
God forgives unconditionally. So can we
The thief on the cross still dies on his cross
But forgiveness will set his spirit free.
And what of you and me,
standing on the ground with our piles of hurts mounting so high?
Will we die a thousand deaths before we die?
Yearning for revenge, will we die of that thirst?
Will the rage that fills us be the stake on which we burn?
Will we stumble over every resistance placed in our way?
Remain mired in the misery of it all?
Or will we take the chance that we might break free
by following this path where it leads
Past the whys and lies about how it cannot be.
Here is our chance to break free.
Forgiveness is not Forgetting
Take a centered breath. Breathing in 1, 2, 3, 4 and out 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
again Breathing in 1, 2, 3, 4 and out 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
and again Breathing in 1, 2, 3, 4 and out 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Now settle into a time of silence.
Meditate on the phrase: “Jesus, transform my pain into Compassion”
Forgiveness is not Weakness
Sit in the holy discomfort of naming the five forgiveness myths that the Tutu’s share in The Book of Forgiving. Read each of these myths and ask yourself; “Which of these myths have I believed and let stop me from forgiving?”
“Forgiveness is not weakness.”
“Forgiveness is not injustice.”
“Forgiveness is not forgetting.”
“Forgiveness is not easy.”
“Forgiveness is not quick.”
Having sat in the silence of recognizing what forgiveness isn’t, let us join our hearts in a future oriented prayer towards what forgiveness might look like. This prayer was adapted from The Book of Forgiving. Praying...
I will forgive you. The words are so small, but there is a future hidden within them. When I forgive you, all those cords of resentment, pain, and sadness that had wrapped themselves around my heart will be gone. When I forgive you, you will no longer define me. You measured me, and assessed me, and decided that you could hurt me. I didn't count. But I will forgive you, because I do count. I do matter. I am stronger. I am more beautiful. And I am infinitely more precious than you thought of me. I will forgive you. My forgiveness is not a gift that I am giving to you. When I forgive you, my forgiveness will be a gift that gives itself to me.
Understanding Forgiveness
In his reflections on forgiveness, Desmond Tutu invites us to enter the process with honesty about where we are where we are not. The work of forgiveness moves at the pace that it must move, which means that sometimes the first step is to ask for the willingness to take the first step. Without willingness, the journey will be impossible. So let’s ready our hearts for the journey.
Prayer before the Prayer
by Desmond Tutu and his daughter Mpho
I want to be willing to let go, to forgive.
but dare not ask for the will to forgive,
in case you give it to me
and I am not yet ready.
I am not yet ready for my heart to soften.
I am not yet ready to be vulnerable again.
Not yet ready to see that there is humanity in my tormentor’s eyes
or that the one who hurt me may also have cried.
I am not yet ready for the journey.
I am not yet interested in the path.
I am at the prayer before the prayer of forgiveness.
Grant me the will to want to forgive.
Grant it to me not yet but soon
Can I even form the words?
Forgive me? Dare I even look?
Do I dare to see the hurt I have caused:
I can glimpse all the shattered pieces of that fragile thing
that soul trying to rise on the broken wings of hope.
But only out of the corner of my eye.
I am afraid of it.
And if I am afraid to see
How can I not be afraid to say: Forgive me?
Is there a place where we can meet?
You and me
The place in the middle where we straddle the lines
Where you are right and I am right too.
And both of us are wrong and wronged.
Can we meet there?
And look for the place where the path begins
The path that ends when we forgive.