Washing away the pain with forgiveness…
Originally published 2000
I’m in a song writing class. One woman, who on the surface appears to be as happy and friendly as they come, wrote about some of the terrible times she experienced in high school. It was one thing to recognize how essentially wrong those situations were, and to recognize how the song might possibly help others to be more sensitive. But it was quite another to realize that this person was still dwelling in those experiences. She was carrying them with her, every day of her life.
I realized then how fortunate I was. Somewhere in the midst of my martial arts training, I had managed to leave all of that behind. I still have behavioral patterns that were forged in the past — habits I still need to overcome to live a better, happier, and more successful life. But the fact is that those behavioral patterns are only habits. The negative emotions that stemmed from the past are long gone. I am truly free of them — a fact that became totally real when I listened to that woman sing her song, and recognized how much that emotion was still part of her.
I had been working on a song that involved forgiveness, and that night I added two more verses to it. What had originally been a chorus, in fact, was now threatening to expand and become the entire song! Before the course is through, I intend to finish that song and perform it for the class. If it only reaches that one person, it will be worth it. Because if you truly forgive, you can wash the pain away!
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