Forgiveness on Mother's Day

“ I haven’t spoken to my mother in twenty-eighty years’ a woman told me yesterday after I spoke to a local Rotary club about using Forgiveness as the family gathers for mother’s day this coming Sunday.

She said that loudly behind my back as I was talking to others after the presentation. I turned and she was gone. Another kindly gentleman, who looked to be in his late eighties shared that his adult children were tangled in old arguments and it just broke his heart. Another man proudly told me he had completely planned for his future aging disabilities, no matter who did not get along with who in his family.

The aging family is unique in the spectrum of families in that death inks the sky above it like a thunder cloud. It is a constant drama set on a stage where the characters, the aging Mom’s and Dad’s, adult children are miserably threatened with the play closing if they do not get to the denouement quickly and reach forgiveness.
The clock running raises the stakes to resolve old wounds quickly- brothers and sisters you have been ticked off at forever, Mother’s who squirted out nurturing like a tube of empty tooth paste. Before the reaper takes aging Mom and Dad,s the main characters,consider forgivenss

Take this mother’s day to count your blessing and the scarred notches on your belt for wrongs done.

Like Stanford’s ,Dr. Fred Luskin says in his wise book “ Forgive for Good” , let the planes land . If you have a story you tell over and over again about how Dad never came to your little league games because he worked too much, a brother who bullied you and got to go to college when your parents made you take out students loans you still have to pay- you may have a grievance story.

The tale is an airplane flying endless around in your head taking up so much space , you can’t forgive. Move into the here and now and get that fresh start with parents who may soon die or siblings you rarely talk to - who may be glistening treasure and potential best friend s for the rest of your life.

The Dali Lama said of the Chinese, while speaking of absolution . “Sometimes I feel grateful to the Chinese Communists,ultimately, they created this opportunity.” That opportunity was to speak of forgiveness. That wisdom from one of our planet’s holiest fellows, could rub off on you on mother’s day. Consider maybe the greatest mother’s day gift might be, letting those planes land in your head