Poet: Catherine Pulsifer
Even though you may be mad
Even though you feel sad
And you may be hurt
Feelings of being thrown dirt.
But you hurt yourself more
When you don't forgive and close the door
Let it go, don't despair
Forgive others and clear the air.
Be the first to forgive others
We are all truly brothers.
Forgiveness lightens your load
Always take the high road.
Poet: John Greenleaf Whittier
Forgive, O Lord, our severing ways,
The rival altars that we raise,
The wrangling tongues that mar thy praise!
Thy grace impart! In time to be
Shall one great temple rise to Thee—
Thy Church our broad humanity.
White flowers of love its wall shall climb.
Soft bells of peace shall ring its chime.
Its days shall all be holy time.
A sweeter song shall then be heard.
Confessing, in a world’s accord.
The inward Christ, the living Word.
That song shall swell from shore to shore.
One hope, one faith, one love restore
The seamless robe that Jesus wore.
by Wilferd Peterson
The art of forgiveness begins when you forgive someone.
It is having a humble spirit and being done with pride and self-pity.
It is taking a step toward the practice of forgiveness. Hate is death, forgiveness is life.
Forgiveness works the miracle of change.
When Lincoln was asked why he did not destroy his enemies he replied: "If I make my enemies my friends, don't I then destroy them?"
When you forgive you change others and you change yourself. You change discord to harmony.
Forgiveness should span the years.
You should first forgive yourself for the wrongs you've done to yourself and others, for the mistakes you've made.
Then you should forgive and bless all those who have wronged you during your lifetime.
Thus you release others and you release yourself. You break the chains of regret and remorse that bind you.
You free your mind from the burdens of the past so you may walk victoriously into the future.
Forgiveness works two ways.
You must forgive to be forgiven.
"He who cannot forgive others," wrote Edward Herbert, "breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass; for every man has the need to be forgiven."
Forgiveness should become a habit.
When the Master was asked how often we should forgive, he answered:
"Until seventy time seven." He who forgives to infinity will never hate.
Forgiveness should start now.
Putting off forgiving only deepens the wound. Clinging to bitterness postpones happiness.
Life is short, time is fleeting. Today is the day to forgive.
Forgiveness is the way to personal peace.
It is performing mental surgery on yourself, probing deep within to remove hurts, grudges, and resentments.
It is forgetting wrongs as though they had never been. It is flooding your mind with the powerful medicine of forgiveness that cleanses and heals.
It is discovering a serenity you've never known before.
Poet: Catherine Pulsifer
In the world of pain, forgiveness finds its place,
A noble journey unfolds, led by honor's grace.
Steer clear of conflict and despair,
Seek the tranquility that life can share.
Let grudges dissipate, dissolve away,
Anger breeds bringing sorrow and decay.
Embracing wide hearts, we offer peace its due,
Discover in forgiveness a dance where tranquility brews.
Poet: Lillian E. Curtis
Forgive! nor number the times two, nor yet eleven.
Forgive! forgive even seventy times seven;
Too much! Oh, too much, do I hear you say,
As in prayer you bow the reverent head?
Then every harsh thought, Oh, cast away,
"Seventy times seven" the Saviour said.
And mildly he looketh down from Heaven,
And sayeth forgive, nor malice nor envy keep,
Forgive as you hope to be forgiven.
And how sweet will be your sleep!
We owe a debt which increases as long as we live,
As we would be forgiven, so let us forgive.
Poet: Unknown
O God, forgive the years and years
Of worldly pride and hopes and fears;
Forgive, and blot them from thy book,
The sins on which I mourn to look.
Forgive the lack of service done
For thee, thro' life, from life begun;
Forgive the vain desires to be
All else but that desired by thee.
Forgive the love of human praise,
The first false step in crooked ways,
The choice of evil and the night,
The heart close shut against the light.
Forgive the love that could endure
No cost to bless the sad and poor;
Forgive, and give me grace to see
The life laid down in love for me.
Poet: S. E. Gordon
Forgive and forget! 'Tis a maxim worth heeding,
Recall the harsh judgment so hasty and stern;
Not one of us all but is certainly needing
Some friendly forbearance and grace in return.
Unkindness and malice are weeds that grow thickly,
But patience and love may transform them to flowers;
Remember our journey is over too quickly
To waste on ill-feeling a tithe of its hours.
Forgive and forget! Let the bitter thought perish,
Life does not lack sorrow more weighty, more real;
And in the sharp sting of resentment, why cherish
The thorn that must rankle where pardon might heal?
Forgive and forget! For we know not how often
'Twill spare us the pang of an endless regret.
Don't wait for the future your anger to soften,
Oh, now is the time to forgive and forget.
Poet: Charles Swain
Forgive and forget! Why, the world would be lonely,
The garden a wilderness left to deform,
If the flowers but remembered the chilling winds only,
And the fields gave no verdure for fear of the storm.
Oh, still in thy loveliness emblem the flower,
Give the fragrance of feeling to sweeten life's way;
And prolong not again the brief cloud of an hour,
With tears that but darken the rest of the day!
Forgive and forget! there's no breast so unfeeling
But some gentle thoughts of affection there live;
And the best of us all require something concealing,
Some heart that with smiles can forget and forgive.
Then, away with the cloud from those beautiful eyes;
That brow was no home for such frowns to have met;
Oh! how could our spirits e'er hope for the skies,
If Heaven refused to forgive and forget?
Poet: David V. Bush
What if your plans have fallen through,
And you have lost the fight?
Work on the while, look up and smile -
The day comes after night!
What if the one you thought you loved
Has torn your heart in two?
A dearer friend that heart shall mend;
Love yet will come to you!
What if someone whom you have helped
Proves faithless in the end?
Your greater heart will bear the smart,
And sweet forgiveness lend!
Suppose ingratitude has struck
With serpent's deadly guile?
Don't stoop to vow with vengeful brow,
But pause, forgive and smile!
Poet: Unknown
O God, forgive the years and years
Of worldly pride and hopes and fears;
Forgive, and blot them from thy book,
The sins on which I mourn to look.
Forgive the lack of service done
For thee, thro' life, from life begun;
Forgive the vain desires to be
All else but that desired by thee.
Forgive the love of human praise,
The first false step in crooked ways,
The choice of evil and the night,
The heart close shut against the light.
Forgive the love that could endure
No cost to bless the sad and poor;
Forgive, and give me grace to see
The life laid down in love for me.
Poet: Unknown
If I should die tonight.
Even hearts estranged would turn once more to me.
Recalling other days remorsefully;
The eyes that chill me with averted glance.
Would look upon me as of yore, perchance,
And soften in the old familiar way,
For who would war with dumb unconscious clay?
So I might rest, of all forgiven tonight.
O friends! I pray to-night
Keep not your kisses for my dead, cold brow;
The way is lonely, let me feel them now;
Think gently of me; I am travel-worn;
My faltering feet are pierced with many a thorn;
Forgive! O hearts estranged, forgive I plead!
When dreamless rest is mine I shall not need
The tenderness for which I long tonight.
Poet: Catherine Pulsifer
In God's mercy forgiveness resides,
A balm for all wounds, where love abides.
Let not resentment burden our souls,
For kindness and forgiveness make us whole.
In this divine grace, let us find peace,
And from our hearts, let anger release.
For as we forgive, so shall we be,
United in love, forever set free.
