Forgiveness: Cross + Release + Send It Away

I’ve come to realize is that forgiveness is a solo sport—an act you must freely choose to do. No one can force you. Forgiveness is also a process. The deeper the pain you’ve experienced, the more complex the healing and, therefore, the longer and more difficult the practice of forgiveness tends to be.

In my journey, much of my anger centered around betrayal. All the weight of that rage didn’t have anywhere to go. It was storming within, heaping heaviness onto my inner world that was becoming debilitating. The people who’d caused this harm? Oh, they were definitely not carrying this same weight. They were off sailing, starting businesses, and developing their own version of the truth. I was in a prison of my own making, and until a moment on a plane, I couldn’t find a way to lay my burdens down.

I put my hand in my pocket, grabbed the small carved cross I carried with me, and inhaled and exhaled a few times. Two Greek words for “forgiveness,” charizomai and aphiemi, came to mind. Come to the foot of the cross and let it go.

I shut my eyes and whispered a small prayer: “Cross + release + send it away.”

When we sense unforgiveness, cross + release + send it away. When we get hung up on a weighty grievance we haven’t had the courage to face, cross + release + send it away. When we can’t bear the weight of the emotional baggage we’ve been carrying, cross + release + send it away.

We reflect on the memory that is most present in our mind, and we picture bringing it to the foot of the cross—the one where Jesus died “making peace through his blood” (Colossians 1:20), the one through which we are reconciled to God (Ephesians 2:16). Then we let go, releasing it and sending it away.

Forgiveness doesn’t require an apology from the one who wronged us. If we’re honest, most of the time, an apology will never come. But we can still choose to forgive and move forward with our lives, free from bitterness. Forgiveness is a solo sport, but we each have a chance to play.

Pray with me:

Thank you, dear Lord, for forgiving me. Strengthen and guide me as I forgive others today, I pray. Amen.