On the Duty to Forgive

Only when life has taught us of the duty to forgive: a duty, or requirement, that every human being shares: only with that lesson in hand and heart do we truly begin to live... Until that "sacred point" is reached, we are but children upon the Way...

Overcoming our personal commitment to a self-definition of "victim" is but a part of the problem: when entire groups claim the definition of "victim", there are those who only see in "victims" a path to both privilege and power... And then there is the "sweetness" of revenge, the retribution deliverable from gangs, the formation of organized militias: and then, of course, all hell breaks loose in a spiral of violence, retribution and justification, and an all-consuming hatred that gives birth to every conceivable deception that the institutions of violence has to offer (or take)... When these patterns are allowed to fester unchallenged, they become a cultural reality that develops a "life" and momentum of its own...

The first step in transformation is that of "naming" the personal / social reality: the necessity of telling our stories is an absolute: freely and safely. There can be neither justice nor forgiveness without the telling of our stories: combined with the necessity of hearers to listen, substantial change is possible. Every rupture of home, community, and kindness needs to be brought into the light of day: meanwhile, both victim and victimizer must choose to renounce every inclination for retribution and judgment: only the Divine Consciousness is capable of knowing -- absolutely -- of Truth... The will to punish must be renounced...

The next step in transformation is that of separating the person from the wrongful action: Nelson Mandela is one of the best examples we have in both the "naming" and the "separating": how many years did he spend imprisoned by the white South African government? Was it 27 years? And then, when he is finally freed and elected President of the new South African government, he begins truth and reconciliation commissions: everyone had the opportunity to tell their story and be heard by the white minority: the previous oppressors. The stories liberated both the speaker and the listeners... thus creating the possibility of beginning a new cultural narrative (admittedly a very slow process)... Actions must be confronted: the "actors" must begin the process of radical renewal and transformation so as to be able to re-enter renewed relationships and communities...

The third step in transformation is the unleashing of "sacred imagination": when the person and a people experience the liberation of sacred imagination, that imaginative "What if?", mirrors the Original Thought of the Holy One that sparked the cosmic explosion of Creation and Being... When reality is understood to be a mirror in which we see ourselves within every "other": those "others" disappear and that which remains is the Divine Oneness: "I am You, You are Me, and We are All Together: One"... Seeing the Divine in the "other" is the activation of love , mercy, kindness, and compassion: in this activation there is no longer an enemy as there is no longer the will to oppress or exploit... Divine Imagination -- which is our unclaimed birthright -- is the responsibility and ability to see an alternative image of the "other", the "victimizer", or the "enemy"...

This new freedom means that we can finally jettison the negative emotional, spiritual, religious, and political baggage we carry as persons and as peoples. This new freedom is a primary indicator of the solvency of our faith: until then, it is without any deeply spiritual or mystical meaning, purpose, and life. We have every right to live the experience of transformation and freedom: here in this place, we will find that our reality has finally become "Real": as our hearts are liberated in the dissolving of every grievance, hurt, shaming, harm, and injustice we will find a home for everyone and the safety to flourish... 

"Human nature will find itself only when it fully realizes that to be human it has to cease to be beastly or brutal... Belief in nonviolence is based on the assumption that human nature in the essence is one..." -- Mahatma Gandhi