“What is not ok about this?” – Dr. Crstal Green
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Forgiveness in the Workplace
I Forgive Me
Is there something holding you in chains of unforgiveness? Whatever it is, you are WORTHY to lay it down and live in the Freedom of forgiveness.
Let this song wash over you. Allow whatever you need to allow for letting go. If you need to cry, shout, laugh, wrap your arms around yourself, dance … WHATEVER… do it. You’ve been beaten up by the internal struggle long enough.
Kenneth Arrington sings “I Forgive Me” with the Joy! Choir at the Oakland Center for Spiritual Living. The Joy! Choir is directed by Rev. Claire Rose. The Full Heart Band is directed by Larry Steelman. Words and music by Tim McAfee-Lewis.
Forgiveness and HB3376. How far have we come, as a society, in our willingness to forgive.
One thing our society is well practiced in is carrying a grudge, but has it truly served us? At what point do we decide someone is worthy of our trust and forgiveness? Is over 20 years long enough for an “ex-con” to prove their renewed commitment to being a vital member of society?
Alexander Pope said, “To Err Is Human, To Forgive Divine.” When it comes to those with a criminal record, how forgiving are we? Is it in alignment with the values on which we claim this nation was built? Are we perpetuating crime consciousness by branding a convicted class B felon as “felon” for Life, even after decades of rehabilitation?
The following video addresses some of these questions.
For further understanding, please read this letter from “Better People – Not Just Better Workers” and this letter from
“ROAR – Re-entry Organizations and Resources.”
To find and contact your local legislator, CLICK HERE or your Representative in the House, CLICK HERE.
Thank you for your interest, compassion, and action in this important matter.
Leela Vox Alexander
Cracking Open in Forgiveness
This video says all I could hope to say about standing in the courage of Forgiveness. And it does so without saying one word.
Warning… this is not one to watch at work, unless you can close the door and FEEL what it might bring up for you. If you’re in a cubicle, save it for when you get home. You’ll be glad you did.
Forgiveness is Freedom.
In Freedom,
Leela
and I…
“of course we all know
the unicorn
is a mythical creature”
I was looking at her
when I said it. and the dark cloud of truth
shadowed her eyes.
She didn’t know!
a quiet gentle little girl
from the dark cajon swamps of Louisanna,
naive, alone, frightened and home sick.
somewhat overwhelmed by
the big world
she had never known
the big college
she couldn’t adjust to
and my class.
and I
had just destroyed
her beautiful Illusion.
It hurt my heart.
It still hurts my heart.
– Strick
One of my early theatre and Life mentors shared this poem at my request. His name is Clarence Strickland, and he is affectionally known by most in his world as “Strick.” He is an artist in many regards… sketches, paintings, poems, carvings, furniture, theatre sets, theatre direction, and sculpture in the lives he has helped shape as a teacher.
How many times do we recall a circumstance when we felt we had caused pain to another and thought, “and I…” fill in the blank with whatever wrong we might have felt we had done.
What if we were to complete the thought with, “and I… did the best I could manage to do with my given skills and awareness at the moment,” or “and I… was a gift in the journey of that person in ways I may never comprehend, just as they were a gift in mine.”
Regardless of circumstance, the young girl would eventually discover that unicorns are considered by most of the world to be mythical creatures. That she first heard the news from such a kind, compassionate man must have been a gift to her on a level, of which she might have never become aware.
I forgive myself for any moment I have been the catalyst for the loss of innocence for another, and I forgive those who I once felt had robbed me of my own innocence. What I have come to understand is that authentic innocence… the place within us that is pure Spirit… can never be touched our harmed by Life. There is a place within where innocence remains in tact.
Love,
Leela
FORGIVENESS QUOTES
When we forgive evil we do not excuse it, we do not tolerate it, we do not smother it. We look the evil full in the face, call it what it is, let its horror shock and stun and enrage us, and only then do we forgive it. Louis B. Smedes
Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heal that has crushed it. –Mark Twain
Forgiveness is the giving, and so the receiving, of life. –George MacDonald
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.– Mahatma Gandhi
Know all and you will pardon all. –Thomas A’Kempis
We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies
–Voltaire
To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you.—Unknown
He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.–George Herbert
Resentment is like a glass of poison that a man drinks; then he sits down and waits for his enemy to die.—Unknown
Forgiveness is giving up the possibility of a better past. — (Oprah Winfrey, I’m told.)
You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well. –Lewis B. Smedes
Forgiveness is choosing to love. It is the first skill of self-giving love. –Mahatma Gandhi
Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future. Louis B. Smedes
To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you. Louis B. Smedes
Forgiveness is Freedom
If we are ever to heal the collective consciousness of the planet, we must first, each and all, go into close self-examination and do the deep work of forgiveness.
We would be well served to write Love Letters to all people, starting with the one who reads these words. That’s you… yes, you. Go ahead and write yourself a good, old fashioned Love letter. You may even want to sign it with xoxo. =)
Then to whom would you write a Love letter of forgiveness for the sake of healing a rift in the collective consciousness of humanity? It happens one choice at a time. One forgiving moment at a time.
I know it’s not easy to lay it all on the line and REALLY surrender into forgiveness.. so I’ll start. Then you go, and before we know it, we will have started a bona-fide movement.
As I am reminded so often by the wise ones, (and, when we allow it, we are all the wise ones.) “Forgiveness is NEVER about the other person. EVER… EVER… EVER.” I love the way my Financial Freedom teacher, Shannon O’Hurley, repeats, “EVER” over and over…. unit the last bit of resonance has saturated the room. She’s a great teacher, and I feel honored to have landed in her class at NTCSL.
So… a movement is born… with a choice of Forgiveness. Because really, there is nothing to forgive that hasn’t already been healed in Spirit.
Forgiveness Is Freedom 