Forgive Yourself

Homing – Forgiveness –
Do you dream of home? What’s “home” to you? Sometimes we dream of a home that no longer exists, or never existed. DreamTarot posits that “home” represents the state of psychic absolution where all mistakes are forgiven and fall away. We dream of ultimate understanding where our sins are not too terrible to be entirely forgotten. Jesus suggests to us that state will never arrive until we learn to be the “forgivers”. Obviously, this means we must learn – somehow – to forgive ourselves.

What Does It Mean to “Start Over”? – We don’t wish to be free of “consequences”. We want to learn and grow from our mistakes but not be humiliated and punished for them. Pretending they didn’t happen doesn’t free us. Seeing our mistakes as moves in a dance we all contribute to frees us from painful rumination and helps explain the prison of blame. “I did this because you –“… Human interactions are a tar-pit in which we trap and tar ourselves. We realize we need to forgive every chain in the event pattern if we are ever to have any peace.

Challenge – Robert Frost defines “home” s a place where, when you show up, they have to take you in. Defining “they” defines your group, your natural home. Philosophy may provide an answer. Buddhists see history as a circle, Christians as a spiral. The question for us Christians is, which direction is the spiral headed and do we have time to learn what we need to know before there’s a cataclysm. Can you define the mess we’re in and intuit your behavioral contribution? Is it possible to detach from the mess? Can you find a group – or even a moment (say, in yoga class) detached from the mess?

Danger – Mixed up about right and wrong? Think it through. One avenue leads to health, dignity and growth; the other leads in the opposite direction.. Don’t make the mistake of “fundamental attribution error” either. Martin Luther King Jr. made a wise comment that the type of government capitalism desires is “socialism for the rich and rugged individualism for the rest of us.” It certainly suits corporations to lecture their employees on building a better world without incorporating any of those ideas into the bigger picture, where we have no control and they have absolute freedom. It is important that our resistance not embitter us.

Opportunity – Forgiveness doesn’t require ignoring the past or accepting bad behavior. It’s part of an interaction where forgiveness is requested. Usually there is a recognition of fault or an expression of remorse: “I’ll never do that again!” When the requesting party seeks permission for the suffering to continue, “I can’t change” — that’ a different request. “Home” is not re-created that way. Hell is. Your opportunity is to point this out – if necessary, to yourself. “But if I’m not willing to try giving up my behavior because I think I’m not able to, this pattern will continually get worse.” And make an intelligent choice. “If it gets really bad I can always commit suicide” is not an intelligent choice, “I need help” is.

Meditation –

#Haiku: Forgiveness

Returning home with
New eyes
Strong hands
Fresh translations of
Future past