In my just over 49 years of marriage to Farris, my experience of forgiveness has overwhelmingly been as a recipient.
Receiving forgiveness is receiving a gift. In contemplating this gift of forgiveness, I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the giver and I have been challenged to be as magnanimous in my forgiveness of those who have hurt me. The psychological experts on forgiveness comment that the one who forgives experiences the beginning of healing of their hurts. I have found great wisdom in the spiritual teaching of Father Richard Rohr, OFM. He comments that among the most powerful of human experiences is to give or to receive forgiveness. He suggests that two-thirds of the teaching of Jesus is directly or indirectly about this mystery of forgiveness. “When we forgive, we choose the goodness of the other over their faults, we experience God’s goodness flowing through ourselves, and we also experience our own goodness in a way that surprises us. That is an awesome coming together of power, both human and divine.” The forgiveness I have received has reaffirmed the power of goodness and love to make a difference and the forgiveness I have extended to others has reduced that drip, drip, drip, of disappointment and anger that can be so persistent when we have been wronged by another.
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