Forgiveness

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I've been contemplating forgiveness today.

What it means. How it looks. Feels. Just letting the concept roll around in my mind.

It's a big word. It holds a lot of meaning. I was thinking it carries a lot of weight. And then I realized - it's not a weighty word at all. It is, instead, a freeing word.

Because to forgive is to let go. Not always to forget but simply to let go. Let of the need to hold onto the . . . the what . . . the weight? The need to, maybe, to be in control.

And yet, what am I controlling?

Something simply to pull out and look at again? 

It reminds me of the child, struggling to hold onto a fistfull of balloons on a breezy day. And there is the struggle. The struggle between the felt need to hold onto and control these ballooons and the desire to let them go and watch with delight as they soar away. The struggle between the desire to use little hands to hold on tightly and the desire to have the hands free for other delights.

In the end, I am happier when I let my balloons of unforgiveness soar away. Go where they will.

Then, once again, my hands, and my heart, are free to receive the blessings that God is so patiently waiting to give to me.

I choose forgiveness.

For more thoughts on forgiveness head on over to Faith Barista.