"Forgiveness and Time. The third key element or aspect of forgiveness is time. If remembering is the hardest and forgiving one's self is the first order of forgiveness and its graces, then time is the very substance of forgiveness. In a real sense time, is what forgiveness is made of, how it is measured, how it grows, how it is felt and experienced in our minds and souls. When we are brokenhearted, guilty, ashamed, angry and broken in spirit every moment is heavy, almost unbearable. Every breath weighs on us. We lose time. We waste time. We can barely bear time. Life is a sentence. My own brokenness makes this the worst part of forgiveness for me. I am too impatience with myself and everyone. Forgiveness is a quality time takes on. Forgiveness, because it is a grace, a spiritual reality participates in what some people call eternity. Eternity is the mysterious quality given time by God. It is not clock time or historical time that moves in one direction. Eternity is an experiencing of time all at once in its fulness. It is an overflowing. When we forgive time itself becomes a gift. In time, what was once painful, even unbearable becomes not just bearable but an important and empowering part of who we are. Not only do we remember, not only do we forgive ourselves but time helps us become enlarged in the same way our heartbroken-ness made us feel small. Forgiveness changes the meaning of time. Forgiveness changes the meaning of time. Forgiveness is a path, a journey, a way to wholeness. It is a grace. Time is a spiritual gift that actually carries us. Forgiveness in time is like a stream, a river. We think we are walking or climbing but in reality time is carrying us along. Now our paddling matters. We have to try to move in the right direction. We can fall out of our vessel. But, as we strive to move in the right direction, as we give ourselves over to time, She will carry us. If we imagine time as a stream, a river moving toward an ocean, Forgiveness is the water itself, when we are in it we feel it but we are not really aware what is moving it. Staying afloat is nervous work sometimes. But time will take us to the right place, because time itself IS forgiveness. God has already forgiven us and time can help us get to an awareness of that forgiveness. It is not automatic. It requires some work to balance ourselves, some guiding work around obstacles in the stream. It requires forms of trust that are skills. Sometimes it requires just resting on the shore and not doing anything...sabbath rest. Time is the most mysterious aspect of forgiveness and it is different for everyone. But we cannot forgive or be forgiven without it. TIme is the heart of the matter. Because the ultimate purpose of forgiveness is wholeness that will prepare us to use the measure of our talents and gifts inspite of the injuries and brokenness of so much around us. Forgiveness is preparation. Before we can give ourselves fully in our lives we must forgive ourselves and others the injury and pain inherent in our lives. TIme then, is the heart of the matter. In time, You will remember and be whole. You will forgive yourself. You will experience the power of forgiveness to change the meaning of your pain and fulfill your purpose and power. None of this is easy at all. I ask your prayers. I pray for you. I pray with you."
October 13, 2012
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