A Forgiveness Ritual
Rev. Rob Eller-Isaacs wrote a ritual of forgiveness for Unitarian Universalists, based on the Jewish Yom Kippur service. In this ritual, everyone repeats: “I forgive myself and I forgive you. We begin again in love.”
When someone hurts us, or we hurt others, the goal is not only that the person who was hurt forgives, we also need to forgive ourselves, and to start over in love. For those times when someone hurts you, or you hurt someone else, you might want to keep this in your pocket: “I forgive myself and I forgive you. We begin again in love.”
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In my spiritual walk and practice, I have found that actual rituals and tangible acts hold more meaning for me than prayer alone. I have always been quick to forgive others but forgiving myself is a lot harder for me. The inability to forgive yourself can lead to wrong, negative, harmful thoughts and self-talk, and emotions that not only stifle the spiritual walk but can also leave one feeling separated from God, or out of fellowship with God and others. I have dealt with all of these results of lack of self-forgiveness, and one day I just wrote down on a sheet of paper my wrong actions to others, to myself, and to God, thanked God for His Truth that when we confess our wrong doings, He remembers them no more, as if they never happened. I then set the paper on fire (outside, of course)and watch it burn. My mistakes, lack of self-forgiveness, negative thoughts and feelings, go up in smoke and disappear, and I am to think of it no more. I can start a new. I have done this ritual a few times and I always feel cleansed and renewed.