Hard to believe but you have completed the first week of Lenten Season – Congratulations. If you’ve stuck to your discipline – great. If you’ve already slipped, don’t worry – get back on the horse, forgive yourself because the only other person who needs to forgive you already has – God. If you haven’t quite figured out this whole Lenten thing yet, join in.
Speaking of forgiveness, Lent is a new beginning for us all and what a better way to begin Lent than by forgiving yourself and forgiving any and every one you think you need to forgive. Sit down in a quiet place and let it all go. Every day you fail to forgive is like taking a glass of bitter medicine you don’t need and does you a lot more harm than good. If you down a whole bottle of wine and eat a box of chocolates, but let all that anger, bitterness, and hatred that comes with failure to forgive out — you’ve had a great beginning to Lent. You will feel like you’ve just worked out for hours with Jane Fonda and dropped fifteen pounds, and in a way you have. Forgiveness is the best diet ever invented. Begin with your self – let go of all the would’ve’s, should’ve’s and could’ve’s. Then go down that list of friends, family, co-workers, classmates, and yes, enemies and forgive them all. It will be like you’ve dipped yourself in magic waters.
Try it, this advice comes with a money back guarantee.
Dear Webb,
As always, your guidance is so helpful and so right on! It immediately took me to one of my very favorite quotes from the great Sufi poet, Rumi (and I think I’ve posted this before)…
Come, come, wherever you are.
Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving – It doesn’t matter;
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vow a hundred times.
Come, come again, come.
Your friend
Tom