Step Eight



GospelJohn 12:44-50 


Jesus declared publicly:
‘Whoever believes in me
believes not in me
but in the one who sent me,
and whoever sees me,
sees the one who sent me.
I, the light, have come into the world,
so that whoever believes in me
need not stay in the dark any more.
If anyone hears my words and does not keep them faithfully,
it is not I who shall condemn him,
since I have come not to condemn the world,
but to save the world.
He who rejects me and refuses my words has his judge already:
the word itself that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day.
For what I have spoken does not come from myself;
no, what I was to say,
what I had to speak,
was commanded by the Father who sent me,
and I know that his commands mean eternal life.
And therefore what the Father has told me
is what I speak.’




"We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."


How do we harm others? 


By condemning them to sadness; to insecurity; to inadequacy. 
By taking advantage of kindness, of vulnerablity, of willingness
By denying them peace of mind, fullness of life, a chance to sing.


By keeping them in the dark so that we can move further to the light.


By wanting to be the one in control.


And the more we do this; the more we continue to do this so that we don't have to face the fact that we do do this. 


This can be particularly true of the people we are or were closest to. Particularly true of those who love, or try to love us. 


To take advantage of love is the greatest of injuries; to realise, at some point, what we have done bring the greatest guilt and shame.


Our redemption being that, once we have realised it; once we make the decision to let go of control; to acknowledge what has gone before. Then to give ourselves into the healing hands of the Greater Power is to be bathed in the true Light. 


This Light throws up the shadows of all our wrongdoings and the shadows will be in the shape of the people we have hurt;not the acts themselves.


We have to hold those people before us; open our eyes to the consequence of our actions; to the dignity of each person; to the harm we have done - in relationship.


Our willingness to make amends may be more than speaking to these people; may not even mean speaking to these people - we may not get the opportunity; it may not be the right thing to do. But we can own our responsibiity; we can be awake to to our actions; we can take ourselves out of the shadows. 


Out of the darkness we can truly grow; our amends - that we can bear to listen to the truth - that we can stand in the Light.


wordinthehand2011
















Comments

none said…
Wow, this is beautifully said. It sounds like poetry to me...
"And the more we do this; the more we continue to do this so that we don't have to face the fact that we do do this." ~True!
Bringing this behavior into awareness through God's healing light is the best way to become a kinder, more loving person.
Oh, Word, I like this very very much. A keeper, as far as I am concerned. Inspired, and so very true.
Thought out through and through.
A fabulous piece, thank you ♥
Mairie said…
Thank you both- you're very kind.
a response to the past few days -
I don't know about thought out Claire - but as honest as I could make it.
blessings m+x

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