Dahni – Just Imagine

Livin’ Forgivien

By Dahni

© 04/13/08

   Have you ever made a mistake that you have regretted or which has hurt others? I have and so many times, I cannot remember them all. That is the point I want to make in order that you and I may be, Livin’ Forgiven.

   It does not seem an uncommon thing to need forgiveness or to forgive others. It is quite simple to understand this in view of the imperfections, faults and failures of ourselves; our species.

   Whenever and wherever we care about others, it seems easy to forgive them. Forgiving ourselves is not only where it often begins, but if we cannot forgive ourselves, it is absolutely impossible to forgive others.

   Forgiveness is so much more than mere words or a single act of saying, “I forgive me,” or “I forgive you.” I think the act and the words are important, but they do not tell the whole story of what is, forgiveness; to forgive; to be forgiven.

   I do not know about you, but I cannot recall what I had for breakfast two days ago, what I was wearing on this date five years ago and other such trivia. I guess you could say that I have forgotten this information.

   Many years ago, I found myself apologizing for something that I did not do. I did so for the sake of maintaining a relationship, not to acknowledge my quilt.

   My apology was accepted and I was forgiven. Immediately following this, I was interrogated, drilled, bitten into, chewed up and spit out by the same person that had just forgiven me. Other people got involved and did the same thing to me.

   I ended this in calmly saying, “We will just have to agree to disagree.” Then I turned and walked out. But you know what, to this day, truthfully and honestly I do not remember what this was all about.

   Was I forgiven though? I mean, was I really forgiven? How could it be so if they continued to bring up what they thought I had done, even if I had really done it? How could they have accepted my apology with their right hand while continuing to smite me with their left hand figuratively? I left worse off than I was when I first came to them. And why was it so important for them to know why I did what they thought I did? Some things are obvious and even if not, we need not explain what we did or why we are seeking to be forgiven.

   A very common phrase in our everyday language is, “east meets west.” This means something entirely different to many, than what it meant originally. Where did this saying come from?

   The slogan is attributed to a quote by Rudyard Kipling.

“East is East, West is West, and never the twain shall meet.”

   Perhaps politically and ideologically speaking, ‘East may meet West’ and Kipling is correct, but where did he get his information?

   No matter how far east you travel, you will never touch west. This is true whether you travel in a straight line into space or in a circle around the earth. Mathematicians refer to the distance between east and west as “infinity”.

   Despite what you may or may not believe, there is a book written before Kipling and the same one was written over 2,000 years ago. I am referring to the Bible. Don’t get excited, I am still on topic, Livin’ Forgiven.

“As far as the east is from the west, so far

has He (God), removed our transgressions from us”

(Psalm 103:12).

   East will never meet west. This is how we should look at forgiveness. It is more than just to forgive, it is also to forget. Forgiving and forgetting is a point in infinity that will never meet.

   An Old Testament prophet writes the following for God:

“You (God), will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”

Micah 7:19

   The deepest part or “the depths of the sea,” is approximately seven miles to the bottom.[1]

   It would be impossible to bring things up from that depth due to compression. It is so far from the light of the sun that whatever is down there will never be brought to the light. To forgive is to so cast into the depths that it cannot be brought up again or will ever see the light of day.

   It is one thing to forgive and to cast all guilt so far into the depths that it cannot be brought back up or ever see the light of day, but to expunge deeds from the memory seems impossible!

   Four times the Bible says, “…their sin I will remember no more” (Isa 43:25, Jer 31:34, Heb 8:12, 10:17).

   In our relationships we often say that we have forgiven someone a wrong they did to us, yet, as soon as the person steps over the line, we are quick to remind them that they “always” do this or that. We never really forget and therefore people seldom get a truly clean slate with others; but with God they do. When He forgives it is total and complete and it is absolutely removed from the record – it can never be brought up again, no matter what we may do in the future. He forgives and forgets. So should we.

   When we forgive it is often conditional on the person not doing the same thing again. There are no such conditions with God. There should be no such conditions in forgiving ourselves or others. Even though we made mistakes and will most likely continue to make them, we forgive and we forget.

   Without forgetting, we harm ourselves and others by remembering the deeds, bringing them up again and bringing them back into the light of day. How we live under suspicion or by being constantly suspicious, ever waiting, worrying and wondering when it will happen again? This is neither living nor Livin’ Forgiven.

   To be guilty of a wrong is one thing. To remain guilty, feel guilty or to be made to feel guilty is another matter. How could one ever change if they feel they are always being reminded of the past. How could you, if you are the one to forgive, ever be free if you are always reminded of the past? You cannot. It is impossible. Why try? Do we live in the past? Of course not, the only place we can live is, right now in the present.

   Livin’ Forgiven is to forgive. In forgiving we forget. Forgiving and forgetting is not two separate acts, it is one thing, done one time. We stay on guard to never bring the errors up again or to ever allow it to see the light of day again. As far as the east is from the west is how far the error is, a point in infinity that never meets and cannot be reached.

   To forgive and forget is only as difficult as we make it to be. After all this, I am truly sorry, but I just cannot remember, what I had for breakfast two days ago! 🙂

Just Imagine,

Dahni

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[1] The Marianas Trench in the Pacific Ocean is 11,033 meters (36,201 feet 6.8+ miles), below sea level. If Mount Everest were placed inside of this trench, it would disappear. Modern nuclear attack submarines like the American Seawolf class are estimated to have a test depth of 1600 feet (about 500 m), which would imply a collapse depth of 2400 feet (730 m). In 1960 Trieste, carrying Jacques Piccard (the son of the Inventor Auguste Piccard), and Lt. Don Walsh, reached the deepest point on the earth’s surface, the Challenger Deep, in the Mariana Trench. As of this writing, the event has never been duplicated