Looking for Forgiveness

My conscience yearns to atone
Yet I hesitate to confess
There is an ache in heart and bone
Each sin a cause for distress
Help must come from God alone
Pour on me forgiveness

This is the End of Summer scavenger hunt prompt #11 – Write a Harrisham Rhyme on the topic of Forgiveness. This form is a little tricky in that there is a rhyme scheme of A/B/A/B/A/B for the end words of the 6 line poem AND a catch at the beginning of each line. That catch is that the last letter of the first word of the first line becomes the first letter of the of the first word of the second line, this pattern is repeated for each line. Makes you have to really do a little thinking!

So forgiveness comes in many ways. Most people think that when they are wronged it is difficult to impossible to forgive the person who has committed the wrong. In fact many feel that to forgive is the same as condoning the act or that there is an element of forgetting the hurt done to you. But really forgiving another who has hurt or wronged you has nothing to do with them! It is all about you. To forgive is to put down the anger. It is to set aside the thoughts of revenge, comeuppance, and retribution. Forgiveness given means that you don’t waste energy, time or effort thinking about the other person. The injury is not forgotten but it is relegated to the past, it is history. To forgive another person is an act of self-preservation. It helps you more than them, especially if they have not acknowledged that they have hurt you.

The person who asks for forgiveness has realized the gravity of their actions. You are not able to judge their sincerity, you cannot see into their hearts, minds, or souls. What you can do is set down the burden of hurt. By giving them the words of your forgiveness you tell them that you are not dwelling on the wrong, you are not holding them in your thoughts, you are walking away from the past. That doesn’t mean you forget what they’ve done. It doesn’t obligate you to be their friend. In fact it means you are moving on and that you no longer have any need or desire to speak to them or see them ever again. I was once told that forgiveness was like stepping in dog poo. You forgive (wipe it away), step away from the pile, and make a note of the location so that you don’t repeat the experience. Not forgiving is having it on your shoe and constantly smelling it, tracking it in your car and home, and possibly having it ruin your shoe, your good mood, your friendships, your work life and even alienating those you live with and love dearly!