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Very often people find themselves stuck in a rut and can’t break free. There could have been some tragic event that has dealt them a drastic blow. Try as hard as they will, this ‘thing’ grips them like a vice and they are immobilised, emotional speaking.
Recently, I watched a movie called Green Fingers where the main character was incarcerated for an accidental/incidental death. His fate was sealed and from that moment on, his life ceased. What a way to go for a young person! Many of us likewise are so trapped in the past that we fail to live in the present. All our hopes and dreams of tomorrow have been dashed. We relentlessly live each waking day as though we are waiting for the grim reaper to take our lives.
The pivotal question is: Why are we allowing an event in the past to rule our present and rob our future? All the introspection and fault-finding will not mobilise us to moving forward. I believe the key we are searching for is right within us. We need to forgive ourselves and move on. After all, we cannot change the past but we can do something about the present. Each day is a gift and unless that gift is unwrapped, what good is it to us anyway?
The Lord’s Prayer categorically instructs us thus: Matthew 6:9-13 (RSV-2CE) says, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” The key to liberation is found in how we live thereafter. The following verses read: “For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen.”
Forgiving ourself (and later forgiving others) is a deeply personal and individual step that unlocks the key to liberating our soul. Like a caged bird set free, we are able to step out, smell the fresh air and embrace all the goodness life has to offer.
As we pray that prayer, acknowledging the source, that deeply personal act becomes a relational connectedness to the Lord who reconciles all men to Himself. 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” You need to live life, don’t simply exist! ◊
Linda Pearl
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