Father Henri J. M. Nouwen’s Daily Meditation – Monday, January
27, 2014 “Healing Our Hearts Through Forgiveness”
How can we forgive those who do not want to be forgiven? Our
deepest desire is that the forgiveness we offer will be received. This
mutuality between giving and receiving is what creates peace and harmony. But
if our condition for giving forgiveness is that it will be received, we seldom
will forgive! Forgiving the other is first and foremost an inner movement. It
is an act that removes anger, bitterness, and the desire for revenge from our
hearts and helps us to reclaim our human dignity. We cannot force those we want
to forgive into accepting our forgiveness. They might not be able or willing do
so. They may not even know or feel that they have wounded us.
The only people we can really change are ourselves. Forgiving
others is first and foremost healing our own hearts.
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Henri Nouwen Society
P.O. Box 220522
St. Louis, MO 63122 United States
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