more light #323
Forgive
by Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer
Grand Lodge of A. F. & A. M. of Minnesota
Dear Masonic Student,
Here is a prayer we, as Masons, might silently use when we recognize a
need for it.
G.A.O.T.U., help me today to forgive; to forgive myself, to forgive
others, and to let go of the past. Infill me with your love, so that I can
demonstrate your love to my Brothers and everyone I come in contact with daily.
I pray that I am able to fully forgive.
Mehr Licht, or More Light, was begun as a way to pass on information to
Masonic Students, which I would come across that, in my opinion, would be of
useful interest to Freemasons. The article below is from renowned teacher and
Minister Christian Ian Chenoweth. Too often we hear of personality conflicts
between two Brothers that at times will cause a rift – large enough to cause
real damage within a lodge.
I thought you might like to read the following from Rev. Chenoweth.
FORGIVE
“Create in me a clean heart, O God.” Psalms 51:10
My friend Catherine Ponder writes, “When you hold resentment toward another,
you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger
than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free.”
When you forgive another, you forgive yourself; you become a freed person
instead of a slave. When the Bible says, forgive and you will be forgiven, it
speaks profound spiritual truth.
To forgive sets the prisoner free, and then to discover that prisoner was
you!
One of the greatest actions you can take in promoting harmony and peace
within your own life and in the lives of others is to forgive – fully and
completely.
More than anything else, forgiveness is an attitude of heart and spirit that,
when used regularly, will grow stronger and stronger. Yet before you can truly
begin to forgive others, you must learn to forgive yourself – and so you begin
with you this week.
Any mistakes that you have made in the past are over and done with now! You
constantly keep in mind that you are a work in progress, that there has been
something to learn from the experiences you have had. Because you have broken
free of any negativity from the past, you are capable of forgiving yourself and
others fully and completely.
Yesterday has come and gone, and the time is now – a time to forgive yourself
– a time to forgive others.
As you make a decision to once and for all to do this, you will see a new day
dawning in your life, for you will become like a little child again free of the
memories of resentment.
Do not be weak in this. Gandhi stated it best, “The weak can never forgive.
Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” I believe this to be so true, for I
have seen un-forgiveness consume until the poison of its disease becomes
manifest in the physical body making a person weaker, and weaker.
It is better to forgive sooner, instead of later. Forgive as many times as it
takes to free you once and for all from our self-imposed prisons.
Un-forgiveness is the biggest block we have inside ourselves blocking our
good for manifesting in our lives.
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