Reflection:
Today, September 11, we remember a day of unimaginable loss. We remember innocent lives taken, families forever changed, and a nation confronted with the reality of evil.
Twenty-five years later, we still honor those who died, those who ran toward danger, and those who’ve carried the wounds of that day forward.
A day like 9/11 also reminds us that forgiveness is not easy, sentimental, or cheap. Forgiveness does not mean that what happened was acceptable. It does not erase consequences, eliminate the need for justice, or ask us to forget.
It means we refuse to let hatred and resentment have the final word.
Recovery taught me that on a much more personal level. Resentment can become an addiction in its own right. We replay conversations, rehearse offenses, and keep emotional scorecards. Yet carrying resentment rarely hurts the person we’re angry with as much as it hurts us.
Sometimes forgiveness is a decision we must make repeatedly before our emotions catch up.
I have learned that resentment is simply too expensive to carry.
We can remember without becoming imprisoned by what we remember.
Freedom sometimes begins when we finally put down the case we’ve been building and trust God with what we cannot change.
Soul Search
What hurt am I still carrying, and what might become possible in my life if I entrusted it to God and began letting it go?
“Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” — Colossians 3:13
P.E.A.C.E.
Jay@EagleLaunch.com
