I woke up thinking about forgiveness…or rather, my dreams reminded me of things I need to forgive…again. Dreams are funny like that - just when you think you’ve dealt with something, dreams have a way of unearthing the stuff you’ve just kind of buried.

Some people say that it’s easier to forgive than to forget, but I often feel like I can forget things…or at least put them out of my consciousness - like they never existed. But then, something will bring them back to the surface. At that point, my tendency is to just bury it again - it kind of sounds spiritual, like I’m choosing to “remember no more” the offenses against me. The problem is that burying it - putting it out of my mind can often really just be not really dealing with it…not really forgiving either.

That’s what I wanted to do this morning. I wanted to so badly…just say like Scarlett O’Hara, “I can’t think about that right now. If I do, I’ll go crazy. I’ll think about that tomorrow.” (I got my middle name from Vivien Leigh…and more than that from Scarlett, I’m afraid…”fiddle-dee-dee”)

If I just forget it, I don’t have to feel it…or forgive it either. But, Scarlett had to face the reality and brutality of war eventually…and so must I.

Mark Twain writes, “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heal that has crushed it.”

That doesn’t sound very strong. But, being “crushed” is not where the strength lies. It lies in the “fragrance” that comes after the crushing - that’s the choice…that’s where the discipline is required.

Luke says:

“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” (Luke 7:47)

That’s me - the one who has been forgiven over and over. So, what can I do except to do the same. Love demands it. How I forgive isn’t based on my feelings for the other person, but rather on my love for my Savior…

So, this is my journey today.

I’m unpacking Christmas boxes, and thinking about how things have changed over all the years that I’ve been unpacking these boxes…and how much I’ve changed, too.

I just need to remember that the fragrance of the violet is a reflection of the One who created it…it doesn’t have to reflect the unkindness of the one who crushes it.

A while back I wrote that “peacefulness is more beautiful than beauty that’s not at peace”…

Some things are easier to think than to do. But, the struggle will lead me home...

Peace.