What has happened?
We have been witness to division, anger, aggression, meanness, incivility and so much more. We have been living through a pandemic. We have felt pushed, pressed, pulled and maybe piled on. When we could safely gather with all our families and friends, maybe there was animosity, misunderstanding, disrespect and broken relationships as points of view became reasons for division.
We have also witnessed sacrifice, resiliency, adaptability, compassion, mercy and a desire for a more just world.
Where are we now?
We are trying to figure out how to work and be safe. We are choosing our national leadership for the near future. Maybe we are considering how we should react if we don’t “win”. No matter what happens, there will be millions of unhappy and frustrated people. We might be related to some of them or friends with some of them.
We are hopeful that no matter what happens, we can come together and move forward. We are hopeful that our desire for justice can grow as we come together.
How do we recover?
I beg of you, if you have not considered forgiveness before, please consider it now. Consider forgiving the people who have insulted you, made you feel small, disrespected you.
Consider the humanity of everyone involved. The candidates, the reporters, your friends and your family. Choose to see them as having inherent worth. They deserve basic respect just because they are human. So do you.
Choose to not be satisfied with anger and unforgiveness. You can chose to listen. You can choose to try to understand. You can choose to live differently. You can choose to not hurt others. You can chose to heal and help others heal. You can choose forgiveness.
With gratitude,
Tim
I invite you to join me on a journey. I have not been able to teach my normal six week course, Freedom through Forgiveness; so I am excited to partner with Stoughton Health to offer some on-line content. Each month I will focus on different aspects of forgiveness. I hope to teach for 45 minutes and then have people interact for around 30 minutes.
November 11th we kick it off with Swimming in Unforgiveness. Does the world around us encourage us to forgive or does it encourage us to hold onto our anger and resentments? Is forgiveness actually an option?
November 18th we move on to Preparing to Forgive. Even if we are not ready to forgive, what can we do to bring forgiveness closer to reality? How can we begin to consider forgiving?
I hope you will join me for one or many sessions over the next three months. Go to stoughtonhealth.com and click on “Classes and Events,” scroll to a class in November and click on it. You will receive a website link and call-in phone number. If you have questions. please call Jen at 608-877-3485. There is no charge.
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