The following piece was an entry I made in my personal journal dated Monday 11th June 2007. I would perhaps approach it slightly differently now, but I believe it conveys a pertinent message. One that leads quite well into the book I am currently writing, ‘Teaching a Monkey to Swim’.

“Forgiveness validates all actions. The act of forgiving however, requires the support of a much greater cause by which those actions may be validated.”

Joseph 20:20:20

I understand now what it means to forgive. It is a concept that has eluded me for years, especially with concern to events, things people have done and said, including myself that I haven’t felt able to [overcome].The way I now see it, is that forgiveness is about seeing the positive ways in which people deal with negative situations. It isn’t so much an excuse [as I often believed it was] as it is a way of moving on and letting go, [and thus releasing yourself of an unnecessary sense of responsibility for others and their actions], over the importance of being responsible for yourself.

Of course [as I have come to understand] there are no good or bad actions. All actions and outcomes stem from core beliefs, inner beliefs that are in and of themselves highly subjective. [So to say that an experience is either positive or negative is down to personal interpretation and opinion, if this were not the case then we would not experience the diversity of life that currently exists].

Violence and death are only negative if you believe that life is fragile. Condoning such acts within such a belief system is indeed wrong because it compromises the integrity of each and every life.

Life however, is not fragile nor is it bound by time, or space, or dimension. Violence and death [then] are…labels to describe [particular] outcomes within a belief system where these terms are relevant.

‘Life’ is a label.

An act that seemingly blocks personal progress in ‘life’ can be deemed as negative at a given level of awareness, but looked upon as highly positive and important on many other different levels. Negative events more often than not serve as diversionary measures expressed and actioned by a more all-pervading inner self.

How you deal with beliefs is highly important and extremely relevant in the course of a life.

Experience is all about [emotional] intensity. The more intense [your emotional connection], the more vivid [the experience]…is in your mind and your body as a memory. Physical life is a manifestation of such intensities of belief. Yet it is not the sum of its parts. It is merely one projection of consciousness.

What has led me to have this revelation about [the meaning of] forgiveness is that [I see myself as being] a very forgiving person [or an accepting person]. I like to be able to explain things, to see the positive in any given experience. Giving it value and meaning.

[As I understand it] all actions serve a positive belief, no matter how twisted or convoluted it becomes in its expression. Feeling safe and protected are positive [beliefs to strive for]…and so much of what we do as human beings is based upon those two [precepts]. Even our understanding of love is secondary to those two principles. By experiencing love we are in actual fact experiencing being safe and protected. That’s what love is.

Humanity therefore is built upon those two principles. But in order to even entertain [this notion], there is an implication that the opposite must also exist i.e. danger and neglect. Thus you have the paradigm of life.

Forgiveness [therefore], allows you to view these [opposing paradigms, safety-protection/danger-neglect] with neutrality. It frees you from judgement.