tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37106751.post5598864756247700011..comments2023-06-28T11:56:24.073-04:00Comments on The Lamb's War: ForgivenessMicah Baleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849915973708989620noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37106751.post-80653231528971687172012-09-11T18:22:32.187-04:002012-09-11T18:22:32.187-04:00A here and now way to learn to practice the forgiv...A here and now way to learn to practice the forgiveness of Christ is to look to those among us who have done it, e.g., (1) when assaulted and threatened with death and (2) after having suffered the worse imaginable loss. <br /><br />1. e.g., the Freedom Riders, who acted to support right but with love and non-violence, and were verbally and physically assaulted and easily could have been murdered. (It was common for Freedom Riders to prepare a will before beginning the freedom ride). Congressman John Lewis was one. Hear his account of one incident: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1YtlOXDfyA. <br /><br />2, e.g., our Amish brothers and sisters in Christ, who, albeit not without difficulty, did express awesome forgiveness from the heart in the aftermath of the murder of five of their girls and the wounding of five others at their Nickel Creek school by a local "English" gone berserk. See the book and/or the film, "Amish Grace." <br /><br />In each of these examples, there was a supportive community. For many if not most of us, a supportive community might well be essential to the practice of forgiveness.James Breilinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01127399925944849943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37106751.post-40982278882820734932012-09-11T11:42:28.312-04:002012-09-11T11:42:28.312-04:00Micah,
You have touched me deeply with this edit...Micah, <br /><br />You have touched me deeply with this edition of your blog. I was much challenged when my ex-wife left me for one of my best friends. There was anger, disappointment, sadness, and all the rest. It was one of my greatest challenges to respond to them with honest expressions of good wishes as well as expressions of pain. For me it was a choice of my love for each of them versus their betrayal. With the strength of my faith I chose acceptance. Forgiveness, for me, is less about the offender and more about "... letting go of a hope for a better past." It is really easy to be bogged down in life with anger, regret, and sorrow about one's past. If we allow ourselves to live in this hurt we can find ourselves spinning our wheels in the present. <br /><br />Let me add one more thought. Forgiveness is not ignoring the offense or giving permission to the offender to continue offending. We must acknowledge our feelings and speak truthfully. The challenge is to not fall into a pattern of tale bearing and disparaging the offender. One can not forgive the offender in person and not forgive them in our relations with others. <br /><br />My simple prayer is, "God please help me to be guided by your love and will and not the hurts of my past."friendlywayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17777107553763480834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37106751.post-27024618304886684962012-09-10T15:01:13.682-04:002012-09-10T15:01:13.682-04:00Micah,
I have (like you it seems) always strived t...Micah,<br />I have (like you it seems) always strived to live into forgiveness, and focus on the suffering of others more than my own, thinking that by being loving/compassionate I could make the world a better place. <br /><br />For me the problem comes in the fact that my idea of what "a better place" looks like often leads to an expectation that others will change based on what I do (or don't do). This subconscious attempt to "fix" those who are suffering is, I think one of the biggest problems with idolizing martyrs, and may lead us to lose our focus on our own relationship with God. <br /><br />After many years, I have started to realize that martyring myself has not in fact led to decreased suffering on anyone's part. I'm beginning to learn that there is a difference between putting the suffering of others before my own (and thus denying my feelings) and the acceptance that we all suffer. <br /><br />Recently I have been on a journey of discovering that it is in the acceptance of suffering as part of the human condition, that allows me to step out of my tendency toward thinking of "my" suffering as different from "your" suffering, and into a deeper place of connection/healing and love.<br /><br />This has also meant that I have had to begin to accept that in order to take care of myself, sometimes I may need to act in ways that are hurtful to others, and that this is part of being human. We cause suffering and we suffer. When I am able to accept rather than struggle against that, I find myself much more effective in my ability to forgive others, and in my ability to live in the world with integrity rather than unnecessary self-sacrifice. <br /><br />Thank you for your thoughtful post.<br />-HonorHonor Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15063776784846017174noreply@blogger.com