Forgiveness is an adventure in awakening to the power that resides within you. Unlike the visions of robed priests and crowned royals, mercy and forgiveness are not powers beyond your reach.
Holding onto negative emotions, like resentment and anger, traps your energy. It keeps you tethered to a disempowering story and the illusion of separation. It sets up the 'other,' which is a wormhole of forgetfulness.
Forgiveness is a tool to flex your personal power. Exercise it frequently!
Let it go, darlings!
Adela
Forgiveness, George William Russell
My heart was heavy, for its trust had been
Abused, its kindness answered with foul wrong;
So, turning gloomily from my fellow-men,
One summer Sabbath day I strolled among
The green mounds of the village burial-place;
Where, pondering how all human love and hate
Find one sad level; and how, soon or late,
Wronged and wrongdoer, each with meekened face,
And cold hands folded over a still heart,
Pass the green threshold of our common grave,
Whither all footsteps tend, whence none depart,
Awed for myself, and pitying my race,
Our common sorrow, like a mighty wave,
Swept all my pride away, and trembling I forgave!
Writing Prompts
Trembling I forgave …
Our common sorrow …
My heart was heavy …
For the Sake of Strangers, Dorianne Laux
No matter what the grief, its weight,
we are obliged to carry it.
We rise and gather momentum, the dull strength
that pushes us through crowds.
And then the young boy gives me directions
so avidly. A woman holds the glass door open,
waiting patiently for my empty body to pass through.
All day it continues, each kindness
reaching toward another--a stranger
singing to no one as I pass on the path, trees
offering their blossoms, a child
who lifts his almond eyes and smiles.
Somehow they always find me, seem even
to be waiting, determined to keep me
from myself, from the thing that calls to me
as it must have once called to them--
this temptation to step off the edge
and fall weightless, away from the world.
Writing Prompts
I rise and gather momentum …
This temptation to step off the edge …
I fall weightless ...
A Prayer for Your Wild Soul, John O'Donohue
Give yourself time to make a prayer that will become the prayer of your soul. Listen to the voice of longing in your soul. Listen to your hungers. Give attention to the unexpected that lives around the rim of your life. Listen to your memory and to the inrush of your future, to the voices of those near you and those you have lost.
Out of all of that attention to your soul, make a prayer that is big enough for your wild soul, yet tender enough for your shy and awkward vulnerability; that has enough healing to gain the ointment of divine forgiveness for your wounds; enough truth and vigour to challenge your blindness and complacency; enough graciousness and vision to mirror your immortal beauty.
Write a prayer that is worthy of the destiny to which you have been called. This is not about any self-absorbed narcissism. It is about honouring the call of your soul and the call of eternity in you. Take as much time as you need to find the shape of the prayer that is appropriate to your essence. It might take a month or a year.
When you have shaped it, memorize it. When you have learned it by heart, you will always carry this gracious prayer around the world with you. Gradually, it will grow into a mantra companion. It will be the call of your essence, opening you up to new areas of birth; it will bring the wild and tender light of your heart to every object, place, and person you will meet.
Writing Prompts
The big prayer of my soul …
The wild and tender light of my heart …
I find the shape of my prayer …
BENEFITS OF FORGIVENESS
Letting go of grudges and bitterness can make way for happiness, health, and peace. Forgiveness can lead to:
• Healthier relationships
• Greater spiritual and psychological well-being
• Less anxiety, stress, and hostility
• Lower blood pressure
• Fewer symptoms of depression
• Stronger immune system
• Improved heart health
• Higher self-esteem
COLIN TIPPING'S RADICAL FORGIVENESS PROCESS
If you're new to Radical Forgiveness, here are the Four Steps of Radical Forgiveness:
1. Look what I’ve created.
2. I notice my judgments and my feelings but love myself anyway.
3. I am willing to see the perfection in this situation.
4. I choose peace.
Here's an interview with Colin Tipping on the Radical Forgiveness process:
Forgiveness: The Art of Mercy
About the teacher
Adela Rubio
Adela Rubio hosts trainings and events on activating your creative essence with collaboration and community. She's hosted 40+ Online Events (30-Day Events, Virtual Summits, and digital marketing trainings) and facilitated 100's of Writing Circles.
