Reflections on Forgiveness

We might well spend a little while studying Jesus's teachings on the toxicity of judgment, especially in this season of our anger. His verses were given not only for the sake of those whom we judge, but for our own healing.

"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." (Mat 6:12) The Greek partitive article "as" (ó), is essential to so many wisdom sayings. This tiny one-letter word is the hinge of the moral universe. "AS above, so below." "AS You and I are one, Father, may they all be one." "Love one another, AS I have loved you."

This little "ó" is a stillness at the center of the vortex where nothing is broken, nothing is wrong, no "sin" ever arose. Touching this golden core of the heart frees me from judgment. AS I touch my silent core, so my judgment of others falls away. The AS is not causal, but simultaneous.

All the cells in my body are calling to my mind, "Stop wasting your energy judging others. Judgment binds you to the past. Judgment is the root of your suffering. Use the sacred energy of your Being to solve present problems, to create something fresh and positive. Then you won't have time for the past."

But my mind isn't listening: it is too busy judging others, and feeling "right." The irony is, the outrage I think I must judge is already lost in the shadow of yesterday. Why not dwell in forgiveness today? This seems irresponsible to my mind.

What is response-ability? True responsibility dawns only when I drop the past, and touch the radiant grace of the present moment. Now is where life is, and here is the only place where I can actually respond.

Judging others not only binds me to the past, it polarizes society, and generates toxic energy in the body. Judgment may give my mind a sense of righteousness, because being "right" feels so delicious! Yet my judgment is my deepest suffering, the root of my dis-ease. There is no healing until I release judgment.

"Which is easier," Jesus asks," for me to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up, take your stretcher, and walk?’ (Mark 2:1) Here Jesus reveals the direct relationship between non-judgment and health. AS I forgive others, my own self-judgment falls away. And AS self-judgment falls away, healing begins in my body.

"Judge not, lest ye be judged. For the judgment you mete out is the measure of judgment you will receive." (Mat 7:1) AS I judge the negative action of another, I feed that same karma in myself. Am I really sure that, hidden in my shadow, isn't the same karmic tendency that I condemn in another? How else would I recognize it?

AS I judge, so I am judged. And who is the judge? I am. Those qualities I condemn in another person resonate and expand in me. Then why focus on another's negative qualities when I could help both of us grow, by focusing on the better angels of compassion and integrity that lie like seeds in every human heart, waiting to be nourished and encouraged?

I leave it up to God to judge others. If I encounter an injustice along my personal path, I deal with it in this moment. Then I drop it. I deal with this particular karma now, and this particular person now, but I do not dis-ease myself by judging their whole life, their ancestors, their race, their religion, their gender, their class...

I not only observe that judgment produces toxins in my mind and body; I also observe that judgment is a favorite pastime for many very intelligent people, especially in the realm we call "politics," where our judgments can feel so justified. Some of my political friends seem to be more alive when they feel outraged.

But the friends I find more healthy to be with are those who don't need to judge others in order to feel alive. They simply celebrate life in its ineluctable wholeness, with all its light and shadow, pain and beauty.

Why not live in forgiveness, and bathe the world in forgiveness? The gentle yet powerful light of forgiveness is not merely the way of Christ, it is Christ.

Here is a secret. Please give it away. You have permission to be happy, permission to be totally alive, without judging others.