The Art of Forgiveness
February 26, 2008 by Anna Farmery
Filed under Grief
Regular readers will know that I love quotes, I love quotes that help you think, help inspire
you to think differently. When you are going through grief, words can really help in coming to terms with life and the heartache that you are feeling. Francis Maitland Balfour once said
“The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity.”
I highlight the first part because I think death can feel like our enemy – it has hurt us, it has caused us our bereavement. These words are emotional for me, because I think until we can forgive our loved one being taken away we struggle to move on with our lives. I think I will print this out and put it on the fridge to remind me that forgiveness is such an important part of grief.
Anna, once again you’ve hit the nail on the head with this quote. Thank you for sharing it.
Hugs,
Mary
Well done, Anna. Yes, forgiveness is part of the process. I went through a time I was angry that my husband died….it felt like he left everything in my lap, what was left of our life had changed. I had three boys without a father, my youngest being 11. I just felt like everything had been dumped on me. When I faced up to these feelings and got over feeling guilty about them, I realized this was just part of the grief process I had to get through. I forgave myself, understood it was okay, and I didn’t dwell on it but moved ahead with my life.
Mary and Elaine – thank you for dropping by, I do love getting comments. Gosh, forgiving yourself is such a huge part…my main task was forgiving myself for having spent too much time at work, whether I did or didn’t I will never know as we both loved work…but forgiving myself for not being perfect took time…
xx
Wonderful thoughts. Excellent quote. Forgiveness is essential to emotional health.
I’m here by way of the Carnival of Christian Women. Nice to meet you.
Blessings, e-Mom @ Chrysalis
Hi there..love it when we get new people who can share their stories and reflections on life. Forgiveness is so important, my dad used to say to me don’t hold on to pain from the past..you cannot change that, holding it will only damage you…let it go..let it rise into the sky and then you will have done one small step towards making the world a better place…think he was right. Thanks so much for stopping by