Forgiveness

How do you forgive someone who has "done you wrong"?  I've been thinking about that lately.  From what you thought was a slight of someone you thought was a friend to a virus unleashed on your computer that cost money, time, and is an inconvenience to fix.  From the theft of a Christmas present from your front doorstep by a stranger to the more serious offense I heard about in Bremerton yesterday where someone caused problems in an entire neighborhood by slashing over 100 car tires. 

All of these are fixable problems.  But they cause pain, upset and often money that people these days don't have.  They aren't as bad as say, a drunk driving death or murder.  But still, they hurt and cause not only physical damage but harm to that thing we call ego. 

How do we forgive that random act of unkindness?  That faceless person who has hurt us?  I have been trying to bless the person who hurt me recently.  I'm sending them forgiving thoughts and prayers.  I'm hoping they needed and/or are enjoying my daughter's Christmas present.  It all turned out ok for me.  But what about people who are really hurt?  The people in Bremerton who can't afford new tires right now or couldn't go to work today because they had no transportation?  Or the person who gets a virus on their computer while they are looking for work and have to scramble to find a computer to file their unemployment claims?

This email came from Abraham this morning, "It is your rules that make unlawful beings. You would get along better if you would just trust each other to treat each other appropriately, but you don't. So you keep making laws -- until you make criminals of everyone."

So do we have to be wary of everyone and everything?  Do we truly make criminals of each other even when we are just living our life and minding our own business?  I love Abraham but I'm having a hard time with this one.  I want to trust others and treat them appropriately but when we are hurt we tend to want to lash out.  I was angry and upset yesterday but I just kept repeating over and over, "I forgive you.  I forgive you." and I started to feel better.  I have no idea who I was forgiving but I had to release my hurt and it was the only thing I could think of to do. That and put it into God's hands.

I feel like I'm rambling today.  Not sure what direction I wanted this to take but wanted to share some of my thoughts.  Please chime in if you have any insight or suggestions.  Sometimes I have a hard time figuring out the joylicious stuff!

Oh, and it all turned out OK for me.  I called the company where I purchased the gift and they are resending the entire order at no charge.  How fantastic is that?  I praise their customer service immensely and if you want to know who they are ask.  I can't write it on here because my daughter reads my blogs!!  Maybe that's where my joylicious life comes in.  I know I will have a wonderful Christmas no matter what and I'm thinking that there are some people out there who will have troubled minds that day.  God bless them.~