The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
Todays reading is about finding a path to forgiveness in a seemingly impossible situation. The writer describes being a victim of abuse by her alcoholic father. Her life to a certain point was simply living with the trauma, not dealing with the thoughts and feelings related to it. At age 52 she came to Al Anon and began working the steps. As she started to feel forgiven for the wrongs she had committed in her life, she began to see the possibility of finding forgiveness for her father. She felt a spiritual awakening: if God could forgive her for mistakes, she could find a way to forgive her father for his. This provided a way for her to have a way to find a relationship with her father before his death.
This reading made me thing about how stuck I have felt when unable to forgive someone for a situation from the past. I consider myself an expert on how to hold a grudge, and I have to work hard to find ways out of being mired in that. There is a certain type of freedom in forgiveness, and the idea presented here that realizing our own faults can be forgiven, therefore others faults can be forgiven, is most freeing of all!
The Thought for the Day gives us: Self-forgiveness often clears the path to forgiving others. And from As We Understood (p.62): The peace that comes with forgiveness is the serenity we learn in Al-Anon.
Good Afternoon Everyone. Thank you Mary for your service/ESH and all the shares. Initially I was not thrilled about this topic today...too complicated. When I revisited the board, subsequent shares shifted my thoughts/mood. It came to me that forgiving old wounds expedite healing in new ones. The hardest person to forgive was my mom. Thankfully, she never gave up on me no matter how long (30 plus years) I hung on to resentments. We now enjoy a close relationship and when I am hurting , I seek her guidance. By reconciling with her, I find it easier to be willing to forgive in the present. I don't want to waste opportunities to live in peace. Thanks for the reminder that it is a daily practice because some days I think all is forgiven and then, something happens .... Have a great day.
