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I fully understand Maya A.'s words. I do. Yet, they feel limiting. Are we not all multi-faceted beings? There should never be the "one dimensional man" - it's not natural. Like fine diamonds, human beings are of many facets. And shouldn't we be?
With regard to forgiveness, there are so many perspectives. And different perspectives for different days, for varying circumstances, for many reasons.
I'm thinking of 3 examples, off the top of my mind. (lol, cut me slack on the length this post will be.)
Margaret Thatcher (certainly not someone whose politics I agreed with! Yet, I give her her due for her grit and commitment, and her damned hard work, as a woman facing a roomful of skeptical men over and over again).
It was said that Thatcher had this poem hung over her desk:
No Enemies
-Charles MacKay
You have no enemies, you say?
Alas! my friend, the boast is poor;
He who has mingled in the fray
Of duty, that the brave endure,
Must have made foes! If you have none,
Small is the work that you have done.
You've hit no traitor on the hip,
You've dashed no cup from perjured lip,
You've never turned the wrong to right,
You've been a coward in the fight.
And then there's this one...life is so short, after all....
Forgiveness
-John Greenleaf Whittier
My heart was heavy, for its trust had been
Abused, its kindness answered with foul wrong;
So, turning gloomily from my fellow-men,
One summer Sabbath day I strolled among
The green mounds of the village burial-place;
Where, pondering how all human love and hate
Find one sad level; and how, soon or late,
Wronged and wrongdoer, each with meekened face,
And cold hands folded over a still heart,
Pass the green threshold of our common grave,
Whither all footsteps tend, whence none depart,
Awed for myself, and pitying my race,
Our common sorrow, like a mighty wave,
Swept all my pride away, and trembling I forgave!
And this...so gentle...no expectations, no guilts, no dues to be paid. Just...the sweet comfort of accepting peace.
I Forgive It All
-Mudcrutch (Tom Petty)
Take my horse down to the water
Let him graze awhile
Take my horse down to the water
Let him graze awhile
I have not been down these roads since I was a child
I ain't broke and I ain't hungry but I'm close enough to care
I ain't broke and I ain't hungry but I'm close enough to care
Send my things to my niece Laura
She'll keep 'em over there
I forgive it all, I forgive it all
With her, I forgive it all
There ain't no money in this deal, I just tag along
There ain't no money in this deal, I just tag along
Some things I feel right, somebody else thinks wrong
I forgive it all, I forgive it all
With her, I forgive it all
People are what people make em' that ain't gonna change
People are what people make 'em, that ain't gonna change
There ain't nothing you can do, nothing you could rearrange
But I forgive it all, I forgive it all
With her, I forgive it all.
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Last edited by FooZe; Oct 21, 2022 at 07:02 PM.
Reason: administrative edit (removed quote)
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