As We Forgive Our Debtors

“So it is with forgiveness.  As long as the only cry heard among us is for vengeance, there can be no reconciliation.  If our hears are so narrow as to see only how others have hurt and offended us, we cannot see how we have offended God and so find no need to seek forgiveness.”

– Richard J. Foster, Prayer:  Finding the Heart’s True Home, p. 187

Librarians

“We were there to celebrate some of the rare intelligence capabilities that our country can actually be proud of–those of librarians.  I see them as healers and magicians.  Librarians can tease out of inarticulate individuals enough information about what they are after to lead them on the path of connection.  They are trail guides through the forest of shelves and aisles–you turn a person loose who has limited skills, and he’ll be walloped by the branches.  But librarians match up readers with the right books:  ‘Hey, is this one too complicated?  Then why don’t you give this one a try?'”

–Anne Lamott, Grace (Eventually), p. 153

“There is no failure where love is concerned.”

“As long as we continue to seek love, some failure is bound to occur.  But hurt is a strong impetus for action.  When we seek to find the causes of our failures, we always emerge wiser.  We gain new alternatives for our old behaviors and acquire new resources for future encounters.  This is certainly not failure.  Rather, it is the way that produces lasting change.  It is the way of insight and growth.  It is the way of love.”

–Leo Buscaglia, Born for Love:  Reflections on Loving, p. 7

A Change of Focus

“My central message here is when you bring more positive experiences into your life, your hurts will diminish in importance.  In fact, this is the first step to taking responsibility for how you feel and beginning to forgive.  If I rent out more and more space in my mind to appreciating my children or the loveliness of a rainy day, there is as a result less space and time for dwelling on the hurts.”

–Dr. Fred Luskin, Forgive for Good