As I have come through the deep gloom of my early childhood, I find it possible to thrive.
I resented and feared what my abusers had done to me, but I am finding my freedom anyway.
As I viewed their later lives, I wondered how there could be any good waiting for them.
That is how I am beginning to understand forgiveness.
Our HIgher Power knows what we are underneath all the layers of bad, or even good, behavior.
We are seen in that original Light no matter what practices we have taken on for ourselves.
Yielding to temptation, finding pleasure in cruelty, all disappear and are replaced as the person desires to reform.
The ability to reform, to become something different, is a result of the power of forgiveness from our Higher Power.
The corresponding portion is the ability to be released from despair and fear on the part of the victim.
As we see ourselves in a stronger light, our ability to overcome and to surpass our obstacles results in our own freedom.
I never could understand how that worked.
But now I am getting a glimpse.
The desire to be better brings in a different view and corresponding actions.
No one is lost, neither perpetrator nor victims.
It is up to us to take individual responsibility for finding the solution for ourselves.
As we seek out the solution, resources will come to our aid.
Authors, workshop leaders, therapists, friends, all help us on our healing path.
It is our desire, whether victim or perpetrator, which starts us on the path to healing.
This is how I understand and see evidence of forgiveness.
© 2019 Kathryn Hardage
