WATERBOARDING

PRACTICE: Write one sentence that describes forgiveness.

Waterboarding is defined as a form of water torture where water is poured over a cloth covering the face of an immobilized person. This causes the person to experience the sensation of drowning. Sounds horrible and I can’t imagine what it feels like. So why am I using the term as an illustration.

I would like to suggest when one fails to practice the forgiveness – we practice a form of self – waterboarding. Unforgiveness is enslaving and torturous and harms only self.

Here’s what I mean. We can become immobilized by our inability to forgive and move on. We Are Stuck. The cloth over the face is the belief that the other person knows or cares about the perceived wrong doing. The water being poured over the face intermittently is the inner dialogue about what was done and reliving the actual perceived offense over and over. The water is often in the conversation with others, “If she or he only knew how hurt I am/was… The water is the need to know what the other is doing through social media or mutual acquaintances and gossiping about the other.

The water is not taking responsibility for your reaction. The water is believing that you are entitled to feel the way that you do, and the offender is 100% in the wrong. Have I painted a clear picture of the water? Can you feel the drowning?

Physical waterboarding can cause extreme pain, physical injuries and lasting psychological effects. Unforgiveness toward another can produce the same things in us. Unforgiveness is classified in the medical books as a disease. It can make one physically sick including cancer and chronic anxiety. Unforgiveness toward one-person bleeds into the relationships with others. No one wants to engage in the conversation repeatedly and it can influence one’s ability to trust others. All of these have a lasting impact on our lives. So, the question is simple – are you willing to let the behavior of another – real or otherwise – dictate your life, your living well?

Proverbs 18:21

PONDER THIS THOUGHT – I forgive for myself and not just for the sake of others.