Invictus -- a nation suffering through change

This movie is worth seeing. This story is about forgiveness and finding compromise that enables everyone in a country to gain a share in the common good. We are all a part of the same family in this world -- the human family. And we share a planet with many other beings that need our respect and graciousness to share this planet with us.

I am not perfect
How can I lift my voice
and condemn
someone
condemning me
and yet I do it
bitterly I weep
if that person
is close
to me
the closer they are
the harder it is
to forgive
every time I open
my mouth
the sound gathers
friends
who join me in refrains
I justify
my pain
God forgive
my impatience
forgive
this short sightedness
forgive
my own lack of
forgiveness
help me hold still
and be at peace
amidst
these storms
we all
come through them
they are here
to test us
to prove our metal
I am sorry
I failed today
to maintain
quiet resolve
I can and will
do better

It strikes me that these trials we go through give us strength, and that strength is what will help us endure to the end.

Human Emotion of Forgiveness

It is easy to point fingers and find fault. It takes true grit to bear and forbear -- that is, to forgive. As I think about this wonderful year of 2009 I think about success and failure. They are hand and glove and one comes with the other. Some say that success is only one more failure. Others say it is one more try. Forgiveness is one more try. It is taking your pride and setting it aside in the name of letting go of the harsh and unforgiving.

If I were to be on one side of the coin -- I would choose the kinder road, I would be tender hearted, and I would simply say after all I've done -- forgive me. We all know the disappearing act, the cooling off the scene, and the hot pot boiling over. We recognize it in our own actions at times. But the one who stays around, the one who cares even when it hurts, the one who lifts us up even when they themselves have been hurt -- now that is the side of the coin that I will admire and seek after ... after all charity seeketh not her own but is long suffering.