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Henri Nouwen Society - Daily Meditation

Sunday May 19, 2013 

 

The Unfinished Business of Forgiveness

 

What makes us cling to life even when it is time to "move on"?  Is it our unfinished business?  Sometimes we cling to life because we have not yet been able to say:  "I forgive you, and I ask for your forgiveness."  When we have forgiven those who have hurt us and asked forgiveness from those we have hurt, a new freedom emerges.  It is the freedom to move on.

 

When Jesus was dying he prayed for those who had nailed him to the cross:  "Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34).  That prayer set him free to say, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46).

 

- Henri J. M. Nouwen  

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Text excerpts taken from Bread for the Journey, by Henri J.M. Nouwen, �1997 HarperSanFrancisco. All Scripture from The Jerusalem Bible �1966, 1967, and 1968 Darton, Longman & Todd and Doubleday & Co. Inc. Photo by V. Dobson.