One day, I realized I was ravenous, hungered by a life providing empty calories. As I milled around my home, concerning myself with, what to me were petty matters, I accepted that I wasn’t able to pay my bills, that I was over my head in this world. I began looking for work, to pay my bills and such. Like most, I wanted a job that provided at least what I needed, and hopefully a little bit more. I too desired to contribute with what brought me joy, so, I looked for work that I enjoyed, that took me away from the worries and woes of the world. One day, I found a job, certainly not what I wanted, but that wanted me. More pointedly, it was divinity who wanted me where I was needed, for at least as long as I was needed.
One day as I stood behind the counter checking people out in their purchase of worldly desires and needs, a woman stepped up, and a conversation began. As I added the items she wanted to her bill and placed her purchase into bags, we began to talk. During the conversation, she told me that her daughters, who had apparently been molested by her ex-husband, were angry that justice had not been served regarding her ex-spouse’s molestation. Though he was in jail, her daughters were consumed with his deeds and his violation of trust. As the woman began to leave, God stepped in, and I told her to convey a message to her daughters. The message was an explanation of why forgiveness sets us free. I told her that they, her two daughters must forgive their father; not for him, but to give back to him what he had given them. When they, we forgive another, it is to give the pain that was installed in us, back to the one or ones who hurt us. It is not to forget, nor allow the person back into our lives, but to cast their poison out of our hearts, out of us.
Until we give back what was given us, we do not move on from those moments. In essence, we carry that baggage with us. More so, it prevents us from stepping from being “Of the World”, to merely being, “In the World.” It keeps us from our precious innocent essence. It keeps us tethered to the world, and away from God. Most, do many things from the beginning of our pain. In our perceived management of that pain, we drink, we drug, we work, we buy, and we relive, but we do not relinquish. We place bandage upon bandage upon our pain in our effort to hide from our wounds.
No matter how we medicate or bandage ourselves, we never heal, as we have never faced that part of ourselves. In our forgiveness, we not only give back the poison that consumes us, but we confront the darkness we have hidden from.
If something has happened to you, or, you, at one time, have been the source of another’s suffering, forgiveness is the key to letting go. Ask for forgiveness from those you have hurt, not for you, but so they let go of what tortures them. This is how you save both them and you. Take back the torment, and you too let go of those splinters in your soul. And, if you have been hurt by someone, forgive the bearers of your suffering. In this gift, you let them know they are responsible, that you offer their healing through their acknowledgement and acceptance of their deeds. More so, however, you shed the garbage you carry.
To be free, you must unbind yourself. Freedom can only come from you. Be free and you will be. ~ I Am - Wisdom