Prayer of Forgiveness


Working on it... Barbara

(Before Bed)
By Rabbi Michael Lerner

YOU, my ETERNAL FRIEND, WITNESS now that I forgive anyone who hurt or upset me or who offended me-- damaging my body, my property, my reputation or people that I love; whether by accident or purposely; with words, deeds, thoughts or attitudes.

I forgive every person who has hurt or upset me. May no one be punished because of me. May no one suffer from karmic consequences for hurting or upsetting me.

Help me, Eternal Friend, to keep from offending You and others. Help me to be thoughtful and not commit outrage by doing what is evil in Your eyes.

Whatever sins I have committed, blot out, please, in Your abundant kindness, and spare me suffering or harmfulillnesses.

Help me become aware of the ways I may have unintentionally or intentionally hurt others, and please give me guidance and strength to rectify those hurts and to develop the sensitivity to not continue acting in a hurtful way.

Let me forgive others, let me forgive myself, but also let me change in ways that make it easy for me to avoid paths of hurtfulness to others.

I seek peace, let me BE peace. I seek justice, let me be just. I seek a world of kindness, let me be kind. I seek a world of generosity, let me be generous with all that I have. I seek a world of sharing, let me share all that I have. I seek a world of giving, let me be giving to all around me. I seek a world of love, let me be loving beyond all reason, beyond all normal expectation, beyond all societal frameworks that tell me how much love is "normal," beyond all fear that giving too much love will leave me with too little. And let me be open and sensitive to all the love that is already coming to me, the love of people I know, the love of people who do join and work with me in my projects to heal and transform the world, the love that is part of the human condition, the accumulated love of past generations that flows through and is embodied in the language, music, recipes, technology, literature, religions, agriculture, and family heritages that have been passed on to me and to us. Let me pass that love on to the next generations in an even fuller and more explicit way.

Source of goodness and love in the universe, let me be alive to all the goodness that surrounds me. And let that awareness of the goodness and love of the universe be my shield and protector. And with that awareness, let me be energized to more fully contribute with my heart, my full dedication of time and money and energy, and my mind and soul, to the task of tikkun, healing the world, and finding the best ways that I can personally do that.

Hear the words of my mouth and may the meditations of my heart find acceptance before You, Eternal Friend, who protects and frees me. Amen.

ORIGINAL

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
ON WATERBOARDING Sultan Knish has a very good post about waterboarding. While I am personally against torture, he makes some very strong and valid points. I hope everyone goes and reads the whole thing ! Here's some excerpts : United States prisoners have been tortured or assaulted in virtually every war in the 20th century from WW2 to Korea to Vietnam to Iraq to Afghanistan. The fact that the United States respected the rights of Nazi, Imperial Japanese, Communist and Islamist prisoners did not in any way restrain the followers of these totalitarian ideologies from abusing our captured soldiers. If anything it made it safer for them to do so knowing that there would be no retaliation. Some forms of psychological pressure are used by law enforcement on a day to day basis. There are people who experience psychological trauma after an encounter with law enforcement. But if law enforcement personnel were not intimidating, they would be useless. In preparation for the 1972 Munich Oly...
Read more
Image
Online Dating - Bad No Matter What There isn't enough money or influence in all the world to get me to do online dating. Ever. I had one stupid online relationship about 5 years ago, with someone I "thought I knew" who assured me they'd 'never hurt me' yet preyed on my good nature at a very dark & vulnerable time, when I was being severely abused. I haven't heard from this friend of over 25 years since. The stays in the hospital from non-stop vomitting were pretty powerful reminders, too. I can't stress enough that people feel powerful & anonymous behind a keyboard. They do & say things they would never dream of doing in the light of day. They smear, they engage in salacious activity and then walk out the door to work the next day as Mr. Or Mrs. Normal. (This is called the "Online Disinhibition Effect") As for online dating? I know of ONE person who met his next wife through J-Date. Yes, I said "next" wife. Tha...
Read more

Standing By Your Sex-Hobbyist -Man; Because It's Your Fault Too?

Image
Eliot, I accept your apology. I won't forget your behavior and hypocrisy but I am starting to forgive because of the stand-up way you've handled everything Because you did something very few men who get caught do. YOU OWNED YOUR BEHAVIOR. You didn't deny or act like it didn't happen. You didn't project that you were targetted and harrassed. You didn't put it all out there because of your family, that's understandable - but you admitted you did something wrong and you showed a lot of class in resigning. Now, work with your wife to heal your marriage, please. And don't cover up or smear anyone involved in this investigation. You seem to be a guy who made a HUGE mistake rather than one of the pathologicals running rampant in politics (and many other places) today. FACE those you hurt, admit what you did, ask their forgiveness, make amends, reframe the relationship, realize some people will never trust you again or ever get over it, but move forward...
Read more