Anne Lamott on Forgiveness...

I know there are probably a half dozen or so series that I've started and promised to finish. And I will.  Just not this morning.  This morning I am opting for an easy post..a post that does not require a lot of thought or editing. 

While looking for something else this weekend, I came upon some Anne Lamott quotes on "Goodreads." I haven't read any of her books, although I have heard of her.  Several of the folks on EU are fans of hers. I liked a lot of the quotes...4 cyber pages of them, all gleaned and contributed by Goodreads members. I didn't know she had dreadlocks but she mentioned it in one the quotes I read. 

I saved quite a few of her quotes but thought these two on forgiveness might be good to share this morning.

"Forgiveness means it finally becomes unimportant that you hit back. You're done. It doesn't necessarily mean that you want to have lunch with the person. If you keep hitting back, you stay trapped in the nightmare..."

"Forgiveness is giving up all hope of having had a better past."

Most of us have people in our lives we've forgiven...and most of us have people in our lives we have yet to forgive.  In some of these relationships, we've lost the need to hit back, say the last word, have the last laugh.  In other situations, we may still be hanging onto that thread of hope that the past will somehow redeem itself and turn out better than it actually was.  Perhaps today, along with me, you can ponder the people in your life who have wronged you, hurt you, inadvertently or deliberately caused you pain... and figure out where they fit on the forgiveness scale these two quotes talk about.  Resentment is toxic.  That is why Jesus said what he did about forgiveness.  Something to think about....