“If we cannot lay aside the wound, then let us say it will not always bind us.
Let us say the damage will not eternally determine our path.
Let us say the line of our life will not always travel along the places we are torn.
Let us say that forgiveness can take some practice, can take some patience,
can take a long and struggling time.
Let us say that to offer the hardest blessing, we will need the deepest grace;
that to forgive the sharpest pain, we will need the fiercest love;
that to release the ancient ache, we will need new strength for every day.
Let us say the wound will not be our final home—
that through it runs a road, a way we would not have chosen
but on which we will finally see forgiveness,
so long practiced, coming toward us, shining with the joy so well deserved.”
Jan Richardson, from The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons
Chorlton Unitarians 