Aligning with Grace

"Forgiveness is really not about someone's harmful behavior: it's about our own relationship with our past. When we begin the work of forgiveness, it is primarily a practice for ourselves." ~ Gina Sharpe, The Power of Forgiveness Forgiveness is a spiritual practice. It is a very powerful practice. And perhaps the most difficult. It is not for the faint of heart. But as the quote above notes, it is primarily something we do for ourselves - for our own inner growth and well-being, and research bears this up. Today, Jews all over the world commemorate the " Day of Atonement ," which has always been one of my favorite spiritual days. I often put my own spin on the traditional practice of Tashlich . I go down to the river not far from my house, and I meditate and pray. I think of all of those who have hurt me - and those that I have in turn hurt. And I say whatever arises in my heart, but it often goes something like this: " I ask ...

Sometimes, the paths we take converge... Recently I wrote about the ways of the heart and reconciliation... I believe, the more we commit to one path, the more we express the other - regardless of which one we start with. It does not matter... All roads lead to the same place... If you live from the heart, you strive to live from a place of integrity and in time you see beauty in everything. Nothing is accidental. Everything you do or say or try to be, comes from a place of harmony... It comes from a place of love and seeks self-expression... If you follow the way of reconciliation, you strive for greater harmony and balance - seeking atonement - or to have all things be one: "At-one-ment." This path too, leads to the heart, and it is fueled by love... "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things..." ~ 1 Corinthians 13:7 We begin with a choice. We follow one path. Then it leads to another. But it does not matt...

References to the heart continue to abound this Lenten season, but also passages, musings, and a deep and innate desire for reconciliation... I shared this with a dear soul companion recently, and she asked me what it was that I was feeling I needed to be reconciled to. God? Others? And I realized that what I meant by reconciliation is so much more... The Bhagavad Gita , a beloved scripture of Hindus, teaches there are many "margas" - ways, or paths to the Divine. For example, there is the path - or yoga of action - of good deeds and doing our duty. There is the path of karma - intricately linked to the choices we make. There is the path of devotion, and the most refined path, which is the way of meditation. But I believe, there is also the path of reconciliation... Implied in the definitions for this word are the notions that reconciliation is about making something consistent or compatible - or seeking harmony or resolution between two opposites in the midst of estr...