• PSYCHO-PATHS: Steps to Forgiveness, Part Two

• VIEWFINDER: When God Loved Dinosaurs

• HELP!

How can you grant forgiveness? It’s not easy. But forgiving the offenses we’ve suffered is worth it.

In Part One I made clear the personal benefits science has identified when we do the work of forgiveness. Medical research has shown that persons who are angry are more likely to have physical illness. There is an especially strong connection between anger and heart problems. A study at the University of Wisconsin showed that the patients who reported unforgiven episodes had a higher rate of heart disease than those who practiced forgiveness. Another study connected anger and immune system response. Even five minutes of anger affects immune responses for up to six hours! An old proverb says, ‘To choose revenge is to dig two graves.’ If we harbor our grievance, or lack of forgiveness, it will become a poison in our life!

In Forgive for Good, Dr. Luskin offers three actions that move us toward forgiveness.[1]

Read the entire post with the three actions that you can take now!

[1] Fred Luskin, Forgive for Good. San Francisco: HarperCollins Publishers, 2002).

The towering skeletons of ancient dinosaurs in the Utah Museum of Natural History bring awe to the curious mind. Standing close to the reconstructed bones of a fearsome T. Rex, poised to strike, brought to my heart deep gratitude that “Jurassic Park” is only a book and movie! More than 150 million years have passed since the mighty predators and other creatures trod the earth.

Progressive Theology celebrates the creativity of God through all the evolutionary process of the universe. God’s essential activity brings the lure of love, goodness, and harmony to every moment with every entity of the universe. God worked those millions of years ago even in the mighty T. Rex to bring the possibilities of being the best dinosaur she could be, as a mother providing for her young and passing on genes that would slowly evolve. Can we imagine that’s a primitive type of love sourced in the essential nature of God?

The same God works even today in our higher human consciousness to draw us toward the best choice we can make in each situation. God doesn’t control or coerce us, granting agency for our choices, risking our imperfect actions, and then moving to lead us forward again. And before we are too disgusted at the viciousness we imagine of that ancient predator, let’s admit what we do with cattle, hogs, chickens, and many other creatures loved by God! It’s good to consider how we can listen more intently to our ever-present, always loving, continually-creating God in this modern world.

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