Letting Go of the Old

I recently moved and found my 2010 Journal this morning. It said "2010." And inside, nothing, not one word. I had great intentions for keeping a journal, but let other things get in the way. I hope to do better this year and I hope you will follow my blog and find something that blesses you.

Letting Go of Old Hurts
It's hard to let go of old hurts, but as the old year ends I'm looking back and letting go. Henri Nouwen said, "One of the hardest things in life is to let go of old hurts. We often say, or at least think, 'What you did to me and my family, my acestors, or my friends, I cannot forget or forgive . . . one day you will have to pay for it.' Sometimes our hurts are decades, even centuries old, and we keep asking for revenge."

I have been surprised in my new home here in the American South that I have seen NO anger by blacks toward their white neighbors, even though the white ancestors were slaveholders of many of these Southern blacks. They appear to have let go of those terrible old hurts.

The most amazing example of forgiveness was a schoolhouse shooting in a small Amish school. The man killed several children and left others permanently and terribly disabled. Then he killed himself. The Amish parents and community IMMEDIATELY forgave him and ministered to his widow.

When we pick up a brick to throw at someone who hurt us, it's hard to stop. We go over it again and again in our minds. We thinks of every small fault of theirs, every minor offense. Brick by brick, we build a wall. The bricks don't hurt the one who hurt us; they only prevent us from forgiving that person.

We are called to live in peace with one another. But nursing a grudge makes that impossible. I like to remember the 100%/0% principle. I'll hold myself 100% responsible for what I can do to forgive and live at peace with anyone who hurts me. I'll forgive 100%. I'll do my best to be kind to them. And I'll expect zero in return. After all, I can't change them. The ONLY person I can change is myself.

And I won't replay the hurts over and over again. I throw away the tape that wants to replay them in my mind.

Now, of course, this is impossible for me. But I know that "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not holding anyone's faults against them." If Christ did that,I must do the same. He is our example to follow in everything.

Still, I know this kind of forgiveness is impossible for me. I am reminding myself on this last day of 2010 that in Him, we are new creations and have abilities we could never have without the help of the Holy Spirit.

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