February 2007

A Pool of Forgiveness

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about who we are in relation to one another. In a book I'm reading for one of my classes, the author says our spirits are like water, our souls are the individual rivers, pools, and streams the water is contained in, and the surface of the water is similar to our personalities. The part of this that intrigues me the most is how our spirits are like water. A river cannot say, "This water belongs to me" just as we cannot say, "This spirit solely belongs to me." Water cannot say, "I will only stay in this part of the world". Water is circulated through all bodies of water, the sky, the earth, and our own flesh. All water is one. All of our spirits are one spirit - God's spirit. This picture makes a lot of sense to me and before you say I have crossed the line of orthodoxy, let me explain why.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus called us His brothers and sisters? Or why God has repeatedly told us not to hate each other, to forgive, to pour out our love freely and openly? He said it because we all share one spirit in Him. HE is that spirit and He has poured Himself into each living soul as His vessels one to another. How can you hate another vessel if they are in their truest selves, very much like you, sharing your very essence? Yes, they may have hurt you or the one's you love, but is holding onto to your anger really worth destroying yourself? Yes, I said destroying yourself because if you refuse to forgive someone, if you hate them, you will destroy yourself from the inside out. You share the same water, you share the same spirit. If you poison one vessel, you poison them all-including your own. Haven't you seen people in your own life who have grown bitter, who concentrate on other's faults, and who refuse to forgive? It's ugly. They are really hating their own selves. In reality, if they cannot forgive others, they also cannot forgive themselves. Over time, you can see it worsening, their joy lessen. But then you see those who have worked through their pain and have extended forgiveness to their fellow vessels. They seem so free, so light. What happened? What is this peace they have?

So how do you come to peace with it? How do you come to terms that we are all one spirit in different souls? How do you live and how do you love those near you and those far away? You come to peace with it by realizing we ARE all one. Deep down, your joy and my joy are parts of a bigger joy. Your pain and my pain are parts of a bigger pain we all share together. Your sins and my sins are manifestations of a broken covenant with God we have all broken together. When you realize that, when you realize how intricately connected we really are, you realize how hate is no longer worth holding onto. We may look different and behave in different ways, but at the core of ourselves, we share one spirit. Remember that the next time you are tempted to hold a grudge. For down deep, we all share in life together.

Yours in Him,

Sarah Katreen Hoggatt

Poem

Beneath Dim Glass

Today I looked in the mirror

and saw the light within my eyes.

It reminded me of you God

and how your image shines from me

deep within, like a candle burning

beneath dim glass.

News

A Christian bookstore in Gig Harbor, WA, called "Good News Christian Books and Music,"

is now carrying the second book, "In His Eyes" for $14.95. The address is:

Good News Christian Books and Music

5500 Olympic Dr
Gig Harbor WA 98335-1487

(253) 858-9477

Last Updated: 12/30/2011