Forgive in totality

" But I see forgiving as like giving."

Yesterday I attended the last mass at Holy Rosary in Angeles City. Coming out from work at 6:45 in the evening and anticipating the traffic, I decided to visit the Blessed Sacrament first while waiting for the last mass. Solemnly I prayed. Spending ten to fifteen minutes at that place prepared myself to feel His presence.

During the mass proper on the part where the priest says his sermon, I was deeply struck by the two aspects he tried to inculcate to the church goers. First is peace. Inner peace that is. And second is forgiveness. Inner peace, such a wonderful word. See, when I hear this word I immediately relate it to sleep. I think you'll agree that people with inner peace are the people who have a sound sleep. No bothered conscience to worry every time they try to close their eyes. And same goes when they open it upon waking up.

Forgiveness. This is the aspect I've focused more on the priest sermon. It is easy to say that you have forgiven a person but then again sometimes we tend to put a condition on the forgiveness we give. " I forgive you for your mistake but don't show your face to me again!", a classic example of forgiving with a condition. With the example I have stated a question pop up in my mind...did we really forgive the person with that precondition? I guess not.

Just recently, myButterfly's ex-boyfriend posted some malicious/degrading comment on my recent blog. It is myButterfly who informed me about the lewd post. What is my initial reaction you might ask. Anger? Revenge? I guess I did feel the normal reaction any man would feel. However, upon breathing some air and a few minutes of composing myself, I realized I just have to ignore those comments.

Thank God I was able to hamper myButterflys' anger by continuously conveying to her that we just need to ignore those comments and rather believe in my love to her. Minutes past and everything went under control.

I felt that I need to avenge at some point but deep within me I knew it will not be fruitful at end. The cycle or war will just run in circle if I do the same thing to her ex . I have a principle for this kind of people...Denial is the best punishment! It will be a sweeter revenge for me to see him wait for nothing with regard to my reaction. True enough, I saw no more post from him.*

I have forgiven that man. For in forgiving him for his wrong doings benefited me more. I have inner peace. I can sleep soundly at night. I have no baggage in my heart to carry. It is not an easy task to forgive. To answer this dilemma, I change my perspective in forgiving. I see forgiving as like giving. Better give than receive. And things will be lighter for me to deal.

Hopefully myButterfly will forgive his ex. And that is forgive in totality...

* I adjusted the security of my accounts as well

**Thanks to Google for the picture