But, not too happy, right?! 'Tis the season to suffer for a reason! Just kidding. I do hope you're having a wonderful Lent, though. At our weekly meeting, we all shared what we have been giving up or doing extra for Lent and how we have grown this Lent. We had lots of great testimonies, stories of spiritual growth, unique experiences, and an account of guilt-soaked, accidental bacon ingestion. It was fantastic!
I just love Lent. But I haven't always loved it. In fact, when I was younger I would read about Saints of the Church who bypassed Advent all together and just had an extra Lent. Two Lents?! No way! Those party animals! "How morbid," I thought. And as with all things I said I would never do when I was younger, I recanted my statement after the first time I tried that wonderful experience.
I was thinking this week about how much of Lent is directed at ourselves. Our growth. Our sacrifices. Our repentance. It's all for Jesus, but I just want to throw out a Lenten reminder this year. As I looked at today's readings, Matthew 18 reminded me of the need to forgive others. Not just once. Not just 7 or 70 times, but 70 times 7, or perfectly. As they say in 12-step programs, it's about progress, not perfection. No matter how willing we are to forgive, total forgiveness is a lifetime journey. We will never be able to PERFECTLY forgive until we get to heaven. This process is not really something we can always control or plan ahead of time. During our time on this earth, we never know when a new offense will come or when an old offense will rear its ugly head. This is not a simple process, but I have some thoughts I'd like to share. I hope they are helpful.
The Desert of Unforgiveness
These precious 40 days before Easter are often compared to Jesus' time in the desert. As I reflect on unforgiveness, it brings to mind the desert journey of the Israelites in the book of Exodus. Unforgiveness can definitely be compared to a desert. I don't know about you, but I have gone through some dark deserts of unforgiveness in my life. Dry. Bitter. Feeling Burnt by the sun in the day. Feeling frozen by the isolation at night. Painful step after painful step in what can seem an unending journey. When hurt from past offenses or current situations springs up, it can seem like a sandstorm, burning your eyes, beating against your weary body, and even result in annoyance, anger, and discomfort as the sand creeps into every area-I'll stop there. I think you probably get the point.
Here are some points to get you started thinking about your journey of forgiveness. Wouldn't it be great to leave all of our hurts with Jesus in the desert and come out free on the other side?
Hurt People Hurt People
Have you heard this saying before? People who are hurting usually hurt other people. It may be cheesy, but it's true. And you know what? If I choose to have compassion on people for their pain, it usually takes me out of the equation. I don't know about you, but it's pretty freeing when someone hurts or offends me and I remember that they are a hurting person who hurts other people. They were hurting before they met me. I'm not the only person they are hurting. If I wasn't in this situation, they would probably be hurting someone else. They will probably hurt more people after me. Get it? It's not about us! We don't even have to take it personally. And if you want to take it a step further, if it's that bad-it's probably because we have stuck around too long with a hurtful person. What does it mean that we choose to continue allowing a person to hurt us? (That's a whole other problem that I'm sure I will address in some future blog post on codependency.)
To be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment