Forgiving
By Glen
@glenniah (1197)
Mandurah, Australia
August 31, 2015 1:41am CST
This morning I heard a discussion between a journalist and a man who grew up in former Yugoslavia. His father was tortured and forced to walk the 'death march'. The speaker was also interrogated as an adult and saw many people both tortured and killed.
Both these men made the conscious decision to let go of their anger and forgive their persecutors. This made me wonder if I could do this. Is it harder to forgive small slights we experience each day or to forgive being tortured for example?
3 people like this
4 responses
@glenniah (1197)
• Mandurah, Australia
31 Aug 15
Last year I was in Croatia and we had a lovely guide who showed us around the old city and took us far up into the hills. He showed us the border of Serbia. He felt he had forgiven these people but didn't want to get into a relationship with them. If that makes sense
1 person likes this
@glenniah (1197)
• Mandurah, Australia
1 Sep 15
This man said his father was a pentecostal Christian which made the family stand out in a country such as Yugoslavia was at that time. His father and the speaker said it was only because of God's grace that they were able to forgive.
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
31 Aug 15
Forgiveness is very often a conscious decision we have to make and sometimes it is very hard because we often subconsciously "hold on" to the grudges, anger and hurts which we have accumulated. Forgiveness is, in an almost literal sense, the act of "letting go" of these feelings which we secretly treasure.
It may, indeed, be slightly easier for some to let go of the larger feelings of anger and hurt than to rid ourselves of the smaller niggles and grudges, simply because the larger ones are more obvious to us.
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@glenniah (1197)
• Mandurah, Australia
31 Aug 15
I agree with you sometimes we get so caught up in those small little grudges and such we forget to take a step back and look at our reactions. I would like to think I could forgive someone because I don't want to be eaten up by anger or hate.
@silvermist (19702)
• India
2 Sep 15
I do not think I could be so forgiving..Definitely a very difficult proposition.What do you think?
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