Faith and Forgiveness

I've been thinking a lot about my faith and forgiveness lately. I seem to be surrounded by talk of forgiveness in everything around me. I hear it in church(the Prodigal Son...). I read about it a magazine article. I see it in the media. I overhear talk amongst friends at a nearby table, I am assuming they are friends and not strangers...since they share the table. I get an epiphany or "aha" moment from movie tag lines. I get a phone call from a far away friend I fell out of friendship with. I talk with a priest, my Mom and my Sister about it. I email a catholic website asking for some clarification. It just seems to be a message of forgiveness all around me.

In fact, unless I am getting the messages all wrong, I feel this entire Liturgical Season, has been a liturgical message of Faith and Forgiveness. It seems every cyclical year has a theme and Forgiveness seems to me to be the message this year. Am I just listening for it each week in the readings and Psalms? Am I subconsciously reading it between the lines of a good news article, listening for it on the radio? Have I seen it in a movie or my daily life? I don't think so...

I have gotten some wonderful advice lately, I've been truly listening with my heart, and processing it all thru my gut, and finally letting it all soak into my brain. I hope my soul and the spirit within me will show me how to proceed...

I have a purpose for this lament. As I said, I've been putting some thought into Forgiveness for myself and for others, what Forgiveness actually is and the processes involved. I have let myself be hurt by so many things in my life, I let the hurt fester and didn't learn from it, at first. In fact, years ago it caused me to question my direction in life. Through it all I have become a better human being in many ways. I rarely give pause to the events thru my life that changed so many things about me, except to say that I have learned to be a better person, hopefully. I pray. I do works, where appropriate I share my faith with others. The hurt I once felt has been replaced with understanding and happiness. I am still human however, I get angry, I overreact, I suffer, I feel pain but when something new hurts me, after I get the human emotional attributes out of the way, I eventually learn something from it. Its not always something good but I learn and hopefully the next time will have better tools to deal with similar situations. Today, I am happier than I ever been in my life. I have chosen a wonderful religion and get more from church than I ever have in my life. I have a wonderful network of friends, family and people who are just happy to be around me and you know that's what life's all about....almost. There is a list of other things to consider but that's a good start.

Back to this thing about forgiveness, after all that's what this drawn out blog is all about. In my heart, I want to be forgiving and to be forgiven for so many things. I am not sure how far back I have to go. I hope I don't have to make a list like that Thursday night show about a guy named Earl fixing his bad Karma but I don't want to be at the Pearly Gates working these things out in order to enter, you know...my priest will be a good start to ask about how far back I have to go, he is the foremost expert in this field and I should trust him and his guidance.

In conclusion, I have been blessed with some very insightful advice from so many others. In all things I feel very blessed. If you have anything to add, please do...that's why I'm writing this particular blog. So thanks ahead of time for any words of wisdom that you have to share....