“’I can forgive, but I cannot forget,’ is only another way of saying, ‘I will not forgive.’ Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note — torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one.”
~ Henry Ward Beecher
Forgive all the way
March 16, 2017 | 26 comments
What a strong way to say such an important thing. Thanks for sharing this great quote.
Thank you Evan for this awakening SV of today.
That is it – there is somebody I have to forgive and in the same matter myself, too. I try to understand the matter as not happened for the beloved man of God – but, you know I cannot forget it, so really forget it. I am not anymore angry at that human, and I think, at myself not either, And that does not mean that I am always thinking about that matter.
To my understanding of what I learned in CS over the decades is to trust only God to lead us to the right understanding of Loves`government of everything. 🙂
Thank you for the daily SV
forGIVE and forGET
Seeing the words in the quote just now opened my eyes to the realization that we GIVE peace and we GET peace in the process of forgiveness.
Not always easy but always necessary
Thanks, mmj, for sharing your insight. And as always, thank you, Evan, for today’s enlightened SpiritView!
What great gems of inspiration this morning. Thank you. I had always heard the first part of the quote, Evan, but never the last part. That gives a whole new shine on the concept. And mmj, I love that… forGIVE and forGET… in other words what we Give is what we Get. So simple, but so powerful. Another quote I have found helpful, “Forgiveness is the scent of the violet on the heel of the one who crushed it”.
Expunging the hurt is another matter. I would like to very much! While most of the time I’m excellent, there are circumstances or triggers that throw me back into sadness or pain .
I relate to what you are saying Rebecca. Working on those triggers. Love the forGIve and forGET. Can’t hold Love and resentment at the same time.
Sometimes it comes in the form of discussing human behavior with friends which triggers the temptation to repeat the wrong doing even though you think you have forgiven the situation.
Tear up and burn that memory. .. I need to say No to those triggers…
Thanks Evan and mmj and all.
Forgiveness can be looked at as a skill which improves with practice.
I usually need to forgive myself for the reaction I had to someone
hurting me. For if I’m feeling pain from anothers words or action I have forgotten
the Truth of who I am, because pain is a very personal sense of self.
I have taken something ‘personally’, become offended or imagine I have been wounded.
As a Christian Scientist I contradict these imaginings with Truth, which reveals the perfection
and harmony of who we are. This allows me to move out of the ‘personal sense’ and
and to realize and therefore see, both the offender as well myself are children of God,
perfect reflections of harmony and goodness. In this state of mind I cannot be offended
or wounded by another actions or words and there is no pain because personal sense is temporarily suspended.
Besides having great benefit on mind and body of the forgiving party, this also has a healing and harmonizing effect on the child of God, who in his or her moment of ‘forgetfulness’
said or did something out of ‘personal sense’
Brilliant explanation Maximo…so clear and compassionate! It really helped me ….Thank you!
This quote from Miscellaneous Writings by Mary Baker Eddy has been helpful to me in striving to forgive and I hope it may be helpful to others:
“I would enjoy taking by the hand all who love me not, and saying to them, “I love you, and would not knowingly harm you.” Because I thus feel, I say to others: Hate no one; for hatred is a plague-spot that spreads its virus and kills at last. If indulged, it masters us; brings suffering upon suffering to it possessor, throughout time and beyond the grave. If you have been badly wronged, forgive and forget: God will recompense this wrong, and punish, more severely than you could, him who has striven to injure you. Never return evil for evil; and, above all do not fancy that you have been wronged when you have not been.”
When we can leave others in God’s hands, let him redeem the wrong, we are freed from hate or unforgiveness. It leaves us free to love unconditionally.
Excellent Rhonda
I agree with Rebecca, expunging is another matter. There are actions I have long forgiven from my childhood, but I can’t say truly that they have been expunged. It’s been 80 years since they began and still something will trigger a remembrance. I realize that these need to be
finally expunged.
Thank you Evan — and Maximo. I know forgiving and forgetting is hard but it has worked for me numerous times over 50 years and brought peace to all. Only God’s good should remain with us. Evan your July 1, 2015 blog titled “Look for the blessing amidst trial” although not aimed at “forgiveness” was still a great help to me in many situations, including the need for forgiving and forgetting. The past is past!
I have always worked to forget when I am forgiving and that always begins with forgiving me and working diligently to hold to divine law. The law of ❤️ Love. Love always lifts and heals. Forgiveness is the beginning of Love lifting thought above all claims of mortal mind. Mrs. Eddy shows us how to “walk on water” in her article, My. 210, “What our Leader says”. A very profound statement!!! What loving, humble gratitude I have for Christ Jesus and for his obediance to his mission and by the same for Mrs. Eddy for her obediance to her steadfast love of God and the Christ within to give to the world, Christian Science, the gift that keeps on giving.
Mobile, Alabama
June, your devotion to Christ and Love I shall
carry with me to day to remind myself of the same…thank you
Thank you June, the idea of forgiving myself for accepting that I could have been outside of God’s care does feel healing to me.
I have also heard this expressed as “Forgiving heals the wound; forgetting heals the scar.”
Great quote…. sums it up in on simple statement
Funny/interesting how the greatest Truths can be expressed
with such simplicity when understood thru experience of it….
I like the sound of that
Student: I had a day of challenges…
Teacher: Then it was a good day to hone your skill..
S- What skill would that be Master
T- The skill is to momentarily forget
‘ self ‘ thus allowing the Mind of
God to reflect the Truth of his One
Will, indivisible, present now…into
Your individual awareness….
S- thank you master…..
Thank you Maximo, so lovely and true – very helpful!
Thanks, Evan, for bringing up this topic, and for all the lovely comments. I love forGIVE and forGET! I seem to have had some tough moments in my life where I still need to forgive totally, and let it go Then I know the scars, both mental and material (so-called) will vanish into their native nothingness. Thanks again to everyone!
Forgiveness is the virtue of the brave… Though at times people who forgive are considered by many as weak.
Forgiveness becomes much easier when we learn to use our spiritual sense to see the world as God sees…entirely good. “God saw everything that He made and behold it was very good” Genesis. If we change our thoughts about the world and project good thoughts all the time we see them reflected in everyone. Our thoughts are like the film in the projector..the screen is always pure and white…Whatever film you put in the projector, you will see it on the screen. If we put pure thoughts in our mind about the world, we see them expressed on the screen of the world…So we need to ensure to cultivate our spiritual sense… Perfect God and perfect man. Perfect cause and perfect effect…Peace and harmony prevails..
Thanks to everyone for all the great comments! Especially forGIVE and forGET, and “forgiving heals the wounds, forgetting heals the scars.” I was reminded last night of a situation in which I was treated unfairly. I exposed some serious animal magnetism which no one else could see, but the attitude seemed to be that it was somehow my fault, that I was somehow in the wrong – that I hadn’t handled things “correctly.” It became a vicious cycle: when I felt maligned, I felt resentful. There is nothing I hate worse than what I perceive as injustice.
I prayed extensively about it, of course! And, as my thought improved, so did the situation. I finally got the stability I wanted, but it came with a slap in the face! I blew it off at the time, but when I was reminded of the whole thing, it all came flooding back. I’m so grateful to have found this post to help address this!
Just to add – some of the ideas I worked with were Mary Baker Eddy’s article, “Taking offense,” and the idea that as a perfect, beloved child of God, what others project on me – no matter who they are, or how powerful they are – can never touch who I really am!
Thank you all for such ascending thoughts. Gratitude and love.