What is to forgive?

What does it take to forgive?

Is it to erase from our memory those feelings

of fused anger and hurt,

lingering resentments

or existential wounds,

caused by the acts of others or life vicissitudes?

Or is it to absolve disloyalty from those we count on?

Or is it to excuse the consequential untruths

coming from those we blindly believe in?

Or is it to acquit the irreplaceable losses

caused by those we rely on?

Or is it to send into remission the offenses

to our decency, dignity, honor and self-respect,

perpetuated by those we follow?

Or is it to actually forgive ourselves first?

However, the problem with forgiving our own acts,

is that we seek recognition and pardon

from others first,

as if looking to assuage our guilt,

through the absolution imparted to us

by the words and gestures of others.

Guilt cannot be fooled by fantasies or falsehoods;

the feeling of culpability dissolves,

only when our conscience says and allows us to do so.

Because,

where forgiveness truly happens first,

is within ourselves;

only through a genuine acceptance of responsibility

are our feelings of guilt absconded.

This is how the stern watch of our conscience

is appeased,

opening the doors for us to be absolved.

Then and only then,

what others think or say,

brings completeness to forgiveness’ virtuous circle;

one built out of authenticity and truthfulness.

Once inside this loop,

we can finally reach atonement.

When do we sincerely forgive?

Sometimes we pretend to forgive, but we really don’t,

denying its actuality.

Sometimes we are simply unwilling to do so;

both attitudes are poisonous to the spirit

and destructive to the soul,

because the longer they linger,

the more our true selves erode,

the deeper our sadness becomes

and the more devastating the damage is

to our ability to live a life in full.

To truly forgive,

we must be genuinely willing and disposed

to have the courage to face the pain, the wound, the offenses

or their personas straight in the eye, confronting them.

Then whatever or whoever

is afflicting us, we must let go

foregoing it at the pace our heart permits.

In the end, regardless of anything of anyone,

we must always seek finality and closure

in order to reach atonement.

What does it take to forgive?

How do we know that in fact we have forgiven?

We know it because with bells and whistles

our conscience proclaims it.

We recognize it because our ability to forgive

is a requirement of our personal growth,

as well as,

for the enrichment and evolution of our entire self.

Without the capacity to forgive,

our virtues and values have flaws,

and our meaning and purpose in life,

while preoccupied with overcoming the haze,

are clouded and murky.

And without forgiveness

we plow through life,

stuck in reverse,

lacking oxygen or inspiration

to breath and infuse

life into our spirit and soul.

Forgiveness is also a precondition

to experience the joy of living.

Without it,

happiness is hampered, limited and handicapped.

The genesis of the noble virtue of forgiveness

is the magical elixir of compassion and piety;

with compassion we connect and empathize

with the pain and sorrow

of those in need of atonement;

with piety we are illuminated and enlightened

by The Creator’s grace,

enabling us to devote ourselves,

with dutiful respect, sincerity and veneration

to the atonement of ours and others’ faults.

When we forgive,

our life renews itself and our existential time machine’s hands

are moving forward in the right direction.

When we forgive,

right from our very own center of the earth,

a torrent of lava explodes into the sky,

freeing our core,

our essence,

from some of life’s heaviest

emotional anchors, ballasts and dead weights.

When we forgive,

we become worthier, thus more likely,

to be rewarded with forgiveness as well.

When we forgive,

we elevate ourselves to a state

of compassionate and pious grace,

where we can seek atonement for our spirit and soul.

Is it to erase from our memory those feelings

of fused anger and hurt,

lingering resentments

or existential wounds,

caused by the acts of others or life vicissitudes?

Or is it to absolve disloyalty from those we count on?

Or is it to excuse the consequential untruths

coming from those we blindly believe in?

Or is it to acquit the irreplaceable losses

caused by those we rely on?

Or is it to send into remission the offenses

to our decency, dignity, honor and self-respect,

perpetuated by those we follow?

Or is it to actually forgive ourselves first?

However, the problem with forgiving our own acts,

is that we seek recognition and pardon

from others first,

as if looking to assuage our guilt,

through the absolution imparted to us

by the words and gestures of others.

Guilt cannot be fooled by fantasies or falsehoods;

the feeling of culpability dissolves,

only when our conscience says and allows us to do so.

Because,

where forgiveness truly happens first,

is within ourselves;

only through a genuine acceptance of responsibility

are our feelings of guilt absconded.

This is how the stern watch of our conscience

is appeased,

opening the doors for us to be absolved.

Then and only then,

what others think or say,

brings completeness to forgiveness’ virtuous circle;

one built out of authenticity and truthfulness.

Once inside this loop,

we can finally reach atonement.

When do we sincerely forgive?

Sometimes we pretend to forgive, but we really don’t,

denying its actuality.

Sometimes we are simply unwilling to do so;

both attitudes are poisonous to the spirit

and destructive to the soul,

because the longer they linger,

the more our true selves erode,

the deeper our sadness becomes

and the more devastating the damage is

to our ability to live a life in full.

To truly forgive,

we must be genuinely willing and disposed

to have the courage to face the pain, the wound, the offenses

or their personas straight in the eye, confronting them.

Then whatever or whoever

is afflicting us, we must let go

foregoing it at the pace our heart permits.

In the end, regardless of anything of anyone,

we must always seek finality and closure

in order to reach atonement.

What does it take to forgive?

How do we know that in fact we have forgiven?

We recognize it because our ability to forgive

is a requirement of our personal growth,

as well as,

for the enrichment and evolution of our entire self.

Without the capacity to forgive,

our virtues and values have flaws,

and our meaning and purpose in life,

while preoccupied with overcoming the haze,

are clouded and murky.

And without forgiveness

we plow through life,

stuck in reverse,

lacking oxygen or inspiration

to breath and infuse

life into our spirit and soul.

Forgiveness is also a precondition

to experience the joy of living.

Without it,

happiness is hampered, limited and handicapped.

The genesis of the noble virtue of forgiveness

is the magical elixir of compassion and piety;

with compassion we connect and empathize

with the pain and sorrow

of those in need of atonement;

with piety we are illuminated and enlightened

by The Creator’s grace,

enabling us to devote ourselves,

with dutiful respect, sincerity and veneration

to the atonement of ours and others’ faults.

When we forgive,

our life renews itself and our existential time machine’s hands

are moving forward in the right direction.

When we forgive,

right from our very own center of the earth,

a torrent of lava explodes into the sky,

freeing our core,

our essence,

from some of life’s heaviest

emotional anchors, ballasts and dead weights.

When we forgive,

we become worthier, thus more likely,

to be rewarded with forgiveness as well.

When we forgive,

we elevate ourselves to a state

of compassionate and pious grace,

where we can seek atonement for our spirit and soul.