Driftwood is interesting. It washes up on shore and just bakes under the sun. You can throw it back into the ocean, allow it to toss around in the surf, and watch it wash right back up on the beach.
Then, you throw it in again. And the process repeats…until it doesn’t. That is, eventually, the driftwood will get caught in a current, and you never see it again.
Forgiveness is a lot like this.
One morning, out of the blue, an old hurt will wash up on us. We might get angry or sad or mad. It can be enough to ruin our day. We might even get frustrated with ourselves.
“I thought I had dealt with that!?” You probably did, but now you get to deal with it once more.
So, like the driftwood, throw it back into the surf. Let it go. Forgive once more.
It might come back again. Let it go.
It might get caught in a small current and show up again, but a bit later. Let it go.
Or, it might get drawn out to sea, never to be seen again.
3 Responses to Driftwood and other Flotsam
Joe says:
This is true beyond the obvious thoughts on forgivness as well. How you are treated or treat others, both at work and at home. How many times before you drive someone away?
Looking at the flip side, is it time that you acknowledge that you need to let go -stop trying to break through the surf, and see what else is at sea?
Chris Allport says:
Too true, too true. Thank you for pointing that out. Another title for this post was Forgivenes, Fear, and Flotsam indicating that fear is another one of those things in our minds that we need to take captive!
Lodged Driftwood | The Wiki of my Mind says:
[…] Driftwood and other Flotsam talked about forgiveness and how, like pieces of driftwood, our hurts may need to be thrown back out into the surf many times before they finally go away. The day after posting that article, I was walking around Lough Derg (in Dromineer, Ireland) and came across this. […]