Facebook... it is a great place to meet people and get to know them, however
sometimes it can catch you off-guard. Recently a new found friend posted this:
“Dear
You (You know who you are),
I'm not a bad person and I have a lot to offer people. I am also human which means i'm not perfect. I make mistakes and suffer the consequences just like everyone else. I ask forgivness and I give forgivness equally. Please forgive me as I have forgiven you. I know I don't need your forgiveness to move on, but I would feel a lot more closer if I knew you were ok. ~ I don't want to start a new year with reqrets of so I lay it at your feet and hope for the best. ~(name)”
I'm not a bad person and I have a lot to offer people. I am also human which means i'm not perfect. I make mistakes and suffer the consequences just like everyone else. I ask forgivness and I give forgivness equally. Please forgive me as I have forgiven you. I know I don't need your forgiveness to move on, but I would feel a lot more closer if I knew you were ok. ~ I don't want to start a new year with reqrets of so I lay it at your feet and hope for the best. ~(name)”
I “liked”
the post and then my friend wanted to know what it meant to me. Hum... I liked
it because it touched my soul and in a nutshell offered an anthem of love and
forgiveness from an anguished individual to a friend. Yet there is so much more
to the human story...
There
are multiple themes that weave through the seemingly short paragraph, which
gives way to the beginnings of a short doctoral thesis; however here are a few
of the more prevalent themes I found and my beliefs:
Worth
of the human soul: society tends to place value on everything, especially human
life. I happen to believe that the significance of life cannot be measured by
any yardstick that the world has or will try to determine merit. One of my
favorite quotations, “if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it
will live its whole life believing it is stupid.” ~Albert Einstein,
demonstrates that every living creature has importance, it is finding that
value and magnifying that value that adds incalculable joy to human existence.
A simple example in m y life is a friend of mine that lives with Down’s
syndrome. She enjoys a simple life, yet she possesses the uncanny ability to
remember names and dates. Undoubtedly she remembers my family’s birthdays and
anniversaries with better accuracy than I. Yet dropped in Times Square she
would be immobilized by the traffic and twinkling lights. We all possess
different strengths and weaknesses. It is through our interactions in this
mortal life that we build our strengths and strengthen our weaknesses and hopefully
help others do likewise.
Perfection:
This does not and will never exist in mortal life. It is the “Great Lie” of
human existence. Yet, we all strive to get there and alas, fall drastically
short. Human nature “encourages” us to put those
down that do not reach this unattainable measure of the human experience and to
ignore our own short comings... I choose to follow the Biblical interpretation
of this cultural phenomenon. “Judge not least ye be judged,” and of course, “why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but
perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” In short, we should all look
into bettering ourselves instead of focusing on others… easy to say, tough to
do. I know I struggle with this particular facet of mortal life and hope that
others may find it in their hearts to forgive me of my frailties, which brings
me to the next topic.
Forgiveness: The pinnacle of all virtues. I believe the simple act of
forgiveness is the ultimate form of love and charity. It requires handing over
the pain and anguish of injustice and replacing it with the feelings of kindness
and compassion. Again easier said than done, but it is easier when we either
know the person and understand their situation, or we personally have been down
that same road and know full well the emotions and trauma faced by the
unfortunate soul begging forgiveness. It is even more difficult when one
forgives without the benefit of the other party’s willingness or knowledge...
that is the beginning of knowing and understanding one’s own soul. That is true
love and the highest form of charity one can bestow on another.
Regrets and new beginnings: Since we are all imperfect beings (as stated above),
our existence will be rife with situations and circumstances where we feel
remorse or lament our actions toward another individual or creature. It is part
of the human experience. We also have no control over others (as much as we may
try), each soul is given the agency to feel and do according to their conscience.
As much as we may want to start fresh or have a new beginning, this does not
always happen according to our time frame, hence the necessity for the previously
mentioned forgiveness factor.
Wow... this turned into much more that I imagined and has also given me
many topics to “process” as I run... I believe future updates to this blog will
happen from time to time. Thanks for the opportunity to stretch my grey
matter!!!
