#Spiritual Forgiveness

[indepthstore]

[lazyyogi]

Forgiveness is about making peace with reality. It means you let go of your inner resistance regarding present circumstances and what led to them. As a result, you are free to fully focus on how to move forward productively. Forgiveness does not mean that you approve of what you are forgiving. It is not the same as condoning. When you forgive yourself, it means you are being gentle and honest. When you forgive others, it means you are being compassionate and sane.

[emil1863]

asking the important questions

[the-mercy-workers]

"They weren't created for this"

These words echo through my mind every time I read a story about someone doing something bad, and isn't it so sad?

A thief wasn't created to steal

A liar wasn't created to be dishonest

A murderer wasn't created to kill

They were created by God, our loving Father, to do His will. To love and be loved. To make friends and lead them towards eternity, back to the Father who created us

But they've been led astray. They were manipulated by the one who hates our Father, who wants to see us fail Him. And little by little, they walked away from the Lord, from the path they were created for

Knowing that makes it hard to be angry at them. Hard to hate them. They weren't created for this

[mrs-trophy-wife]

Blame no one, not even yourself, just change your diet. The diet is simply words, all within you.

—Neville Goddard

[faronmckenzie]

You don’t have to rebuild a relationship with everyone you have forgiven.

[sephospaganplace]

There are so so so many ways to experience the gods.

There is no right or wrong way. There is no blunt way. Its all feeling and ephemeral.

If you've felt warmth, if you've had a dream, if you've seen a crow that stares at you for too long, if something inexplicable happens and you're lucky suddenly, if you've caught eyes with a stranger and felt like you knew each other. If the candle flickers a certain way, if one time when you're singing your voice sounds gorgeous in a way you weren't expecting, these are all the presence of a god.

God phoning is popular on witchtok but half the time what they're saying is bullshit. I've very very rarely heard a voice and every single time it was my own voice, just suffused with something, saying something I normally wouldn’t say. Or maybe I would. I've never heard a clear, distinct, audible voice. Its an invisible world we're connecting with, its a different plain. We cannot experience it the same way we experience every day life.

We'll never sit down at a coffee table across from the physical manifestation of our god, and know that its them, not until after. And even then we can never be sure. That’s the nature of it. There are no absolutes, there cannot be. That’s what makes it beautiful. That’s where belief comes in. It isn't about being good enough or worthy enough or devout enough, that doesn't exist. That isn’t what its about at all. You are worthy even if the divine doesn’t manifest in a way we've been told is the only real way, and you are connecting even if you cant see it now. My most intense spiritual experiences are never something I realize are happening in the moment, its always only after that I can see it clearly.

The gods are all around us.

[a-path-by-the-moon]

[jus4bodhi]

Cord cutting mantra.

[wandoffire]

[ragewrites]

[lazyyogi]

Forgiveness means letting go of the hope for a better past.

Lama Surya Das

[thepeacefulgarden]

Spiritual Self-Care Can Look Like...

Praying or meditating

Spending time in nature

Attending worship if you choose

Deconstructing, and questioning what you've been taught

Letting go of purity culture (that doesn't mean you have to jump into hookup culture, and it's not "anything goes.")

Absolving yourself of responsibility for other people's choices

Forgiving yourself for your mistakes, and giving yourself grace and compassion as you strive to do better and be accountable

Practicing gratitude, even (especially!) when it's hard

Mindfulness and grounding

Joyful movement

Resting, and not feeling guilty about resting

Participating in rituals and celebrations that are meaningful to you (and letting go of ones that aren't)

Sitting with your feelings

Learning to discern intuition from trauma, learning to trust yourself

Getting in touch with your cultural heritage, learning the things your ancestors knew

Making art, writing stories, and being creative, just for its own sake. (Even if it's "not very good," or wouldn't make it into an art gallery.)

Setting up a small altar in your home

Taking a ritual bath, or even just taking a shower after a rough day

Reading sacred texts

Being kind to yourself and others

Leaving a religious group that does not suit you anymore, or that never did in the first place

Finding your own path, even if it's not the one your parents and culture mapped out for you at birth

Listening to a spirit guide (whatever form they might take in your culture or belief system)

Letting go of shame

Starting over

Letting go of bad habits

Decluttering

Getting away from screens, even just for a little while

Volunteering, doing good deeds

Slowing down

Practicing self compassion

Listening to your conscience (and learning to distinguish it from trauma and insecurities), deciding not to do something that "feels wrong"

Working through religious trauma and generational trauma

Letting go of grudges and resentments towards others, practicing forgiveness (not because they deserve it, but because you deserve peace)

Processing your feelings, sitting with them, and accepting them as valid

[the-mercy-workers]

A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community"

[wayti-blog]

Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone's face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come.

Henri J.M. Nouwen