FORGIVENESS
Chalice: ~ The forgiving state of mind is a magnetic power for attracting good. No good thing can be withheld from the forgiving state of mind.
- Catherine Ponder, inspirational author & minister of Unity Church
Check-in:
Reading:
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!
- John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892)
Quotes from the Common Bowl: ~see attached
Life Questions:
1. Have you ever had to forgive someone for their actions towards you? Explain your motivation for forgiving and the role forgiveness played for you.
2. Can you forgive while harboring negative feelings toward the person who mistreated you?
3. Can you forgive if the perpetrator does not feel remorse about their actions?
4. What role does compassion play in forgiveness?
5. Are there any actions that are beyond forgiveness?
Closing ritual: ~You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you will feel and do about what happens to you.
- Viktor E. Frankl, “Man’s Search for Meaning”
Check-out:
QUOTES - Forgiveness
“When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free.” Catherine Ponder
“To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.” Robert Muller
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." Mahatma Gandhi
“The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.” Thomas S. Szasz
“You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well.” Lewis B. Smedes
“When a deep injury is done us, we never recover until we forgive. " Alan Paton
“We achieve inner health only through forgiveness - the forgiveness not only of others but also of ourselves.” Joshua Loth Liebman
“…when forgiveness is talked about too frequently and in too shallow a way, and becomes a kind of universal hasty prescription for all wrongdoing, then I think the value of forgiveness becomes cheapened.” Jeffrie Murphy, Arizona State University
“We see forgiveness as some kind of a Holy Grail. The idea is just embedded in our culture. What does that do to people who cannot forgive? They think 'I'm a monster if I can't do it, and it will be bad for my blood pressure and I'll give myself cancer.' " Jeanne Safer, author of “Forgiving & Not Forgiving: Why Sometimes It's Better Not To Forgive"