Forgiveness in Unforgiving Times

Description

I return again to forgiveness because we wrestle with it constantly, especially now, in these unforgiving times. Forgiveness, as I see it, is less an event and far more a posture, a way of seeing the world through softer eyes while still speaking truth with courage. Swedenborg reminds us that the Lord’s love is always flowing toward us, always working to transform rather than to bargain, and that changes how we hold one another. I am learning to ask a quieter, braver question: What am I for giving here? Forgiving does not erase accountability, excuse harm, or flatten justice. It creates space. Breath. Room for the better angels of our nature to show up. When I remember that the person before me is a child of God, and that I am flawed too, humility takes root. From there, forgiveness becomes fierce, grounded, and alive. I think of the Amish families who planted five trees after unimaginable loss. No monument. Just growth. Mercy. Grace. This is the power of God’s transformative love, never transactional, always agape. It is how spiritual life begins to come alive, when forgiveness stops being arithmetic and becomes the posture of our lives.