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121 pages

English

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Embrace forgiveness as a spiritual principle and discover a new closeness with the Divine.

Forgiveness is a spiritual path that you embark on with intention and vision, purposefully seeking to bridge the gap between your hurt and suffering and your sense of wholeness and resilient inner light—the light of God.

This inspiring guide for healing and wholeness supplies you with a map to help you along your forgiveness journey. Deeply personal stories, comforting prayers and intimate meditations gently lead you through the steps that allow for the evolution of forgiving—loss, anger, acceptance, learning, forgiveness and restoration. Tapping both ancient and contemporary sources for the nourishment and strength needed as you seek to rekindle inner peace, this book tenderly whispers encouragement as you are brought to—and realize you are able to cross—your own bridge to forgiveness.

Acknowledgments xi
Like a Strand of Hair xiii

THE BRIDGE 1
The Stepping-Stones 3
It's a Matter of Principle 6
My Rock 8

CHOOSING 9
An Invitation to an Awakening 11
Love and Fear 13
The Call 15

LOSS 17
Forgiveness Is Not an Emotion 19
Path in the Ice 21
The Ghost of Love 23
Moments Are Finite,Yet Forever 24
Diminished Light 26
The Darkness of the Soul 29

ANGER 31
Forgiveness and Evil: A Paradigm Shift 33
The Commandment to Act 35
Memory 36
The Paradox of Fire 37
Light and Warmth 41
The Case for Anger 42
Life Def ined 44
Searching for Focus 45
Amen: Saying "Yes" 48
Whispers 50

ACCEPTANCE 53
Pragmatic Spiritual Peace 55
The Truth 56
The Moon 57
Tip Toward Compassion: Concede the Moral High Ground 59
Why Is Not the Question 62
Struggling with God 65
Moving On:The New Home 66
Dance Through the Pain 69
Tenderness 72
Tug-of-War 74

FORGIVENESS 77
Holding On, Letting Go 79
I Know Nothing 80
The Choice to Be Sustained 82
The Gates of Repentance 84
“Esa Enai—I Lift My Eyes” 86
Looking for Light in the Shadows: Rakefet 88
In the Shadow of Your Wings 91
The Cemetery 92
From a Mother to Her Girls 94

LEARNING 97
Letting Go 99
With All My Being 101
God, Divine Source of Love 104
Learning from It All 105
Ambiguity and Control 107
Where Is God? 109
Learning to Yield 111

RESTORATION 113
Redemption:The Day Lilies 115
Rebirth 118
Wonder 119
Protection 121
Energy 123
Forgiving God 125
Dancer 127
Beaver Creek 128
Zero Visibility 132
Fear and Hope 134
The Silence Behind the Quiet 135
Quiet My Soul, O Holy One 137

EPILOGUE 139
The Bridge 141
Perpetual Crossings 143
Suggestions for Further Reading 145

Sujets

Santé et bien-être

Développement personnel

Philosophie et théologie

Jewish ethics

Spirituality

Religion

Informations

Publié par	Turner Publishing Company
Date de parution	01 juin 2011
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781580234788
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0850€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

A LSO BY K ARYN D. K EDAR
God Whispers Stories of the Soul, Lessons of the Heart
Our Dance with God Finding Prayer, Perspective and Meaning in the Stories of Our Lives (In hardcover as The Dance of the Dolphin )

The Bridge to Forgiveness: Stories and Prayers for Finding God and Restoring Wholeness
2007 First Printing 2007 by Karyn D. Kedar
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information regarding permission to reprint material from this book, please mail or fax your request in writing to Jewish Lights Publishing, Permissions Department, at the address / fax number listed below, or e-mail your request to permissions@jewishlights.com .
Grateful acknowledgment is given for permission to reprint Esa Enai -I Lift My Eyes found in Nishmat Tzedakah: A Righteous Soul , Cantor Chayim Frenkel, Executive Producer. Kehillat Israel: Pacific Palisades, CA. 2003:16.
The poem Learning to Yield on pp. 111-112 originally appears in The Women s Seder Sourcebook: Rituals Readings for Use at the Passover Seder , ed. by Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, Tara Mohr, and Catherine Spector, Jewish Lights Publishing, Woodstock, Vermont, 2003, ISBN-13: 978-1-58023-232-6, ISBN-10: 1-58023-232-9.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kedar, Karyn D., 1957- The bridge to forgiveness: stories and prayers for finding God and restoring wholeness / Karyn D. Kedar. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-1-58023-324-8 ISBN-10: 1-58023-324-4 1. Forgiveness-Religious aspects-Judaism. 2. Spiritual life-Judaism. 3. Jewish ethics. I. Title. BJ1286.F67K43 2007 296.7 2-dc22
2006036353
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on recycled paper
Jacket Design: Jenny Buono
For People of All Faiths, All Backgrounds Published by Jewish Lights Publishing A Division of Longhill Partners, Inc. Sunset Farm Offices, Route 4, P.O. Box 237 Woodstock, VT 05091 Tel: (802) 457-4000 Fax: (802) 457-4004 www.jewishlights.com
To my little brother Neil Dion Schwartz 1958-2002 And to Skyla and Jacob, his grandchildren
Soon after her grandfather died, a little girl said to her grandmother, Look Bubbe, see that star in the sky? That s Papa smiling at me.
Once, the night sky was opaque with clouds.
Where s Papa? the little girl asked.
Papa is playing a game with us, her grandmother said.
Tonight he is hiding, tomorrow he will be found.
It s like that sometimes.
C ONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Like a Strand of Hair
T HE B RIDGE
The Stepping-Stones
It s a Matter of Principle
My Rock
C HOOSING
An Invitation to an Awakening
Love and Fear
The Call
L OSS
Forgiveness Is Not an Emotion
Path in the Ice
The Ghost of Love
Moments Are Finite, Yet Forever
Diminished Light
The Darkness of the Soul
A NGER
Forgiveness and Evil: A Paradigm Shift
The Commandment to Act
Memory
The Paradox of Fire
Light and Warmth
The Case for Anger
Life Defined
Searching for Focus
Amen: Saying Yes
Whispers
A CCEPTANCE
Pragmatic Spiritual Peace
The Truth
The Moon
Tip Toward Compassion: Concede the Moral High Ground
Why Is Not the Question
Struggling with God
Moving On: The New Home
Dance Through the Pain
Tenderness
Tug-of-War
F ORGIVENESS
Holding On, Letting Go
I Know Nothing
The Choice to Be Sustained
The Gates of Repentance
Esa Enai -I Lift My Eyes
Looking for Light in the Shadows: Rakefet
In the Shadow of Your Wings
The Cemetery
From a Mother to Her Girls
L EARNING
Letting Go
With All My Being
God, Divine Source of Love
Learning from It All
Ambiguity and Control
Where Is God?
Learning to Yield
R ESTORATION
Redemption: The Day Lilies
Rebirth
Wonder
Protection
Energy
Forgiving God
Dancer
Beaver Creek
Zero Visibility
Fear and Hope
The Silence Behind the Quiet
Quiet My Soul, O Holy One
E PILOGUE
The Bridge
Perpetual Crossings
Suggestions for Further Reading

About Jewish Lights
Copyright
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
Stuart M. Matlins, publisher. Visionary.
Emily Wichland, vice president of editorial and production. Deliberate, talented.
Jessica Swift, assistant editor. Strong and gentle.
My editor, Arthur Magida. Your editing skills astound.
Congregation B nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim. My spiritual home. And to the members who kept saying, Write. Are you writing? And to the leadership: a sacred partnership. You are compassionate, intelligent, and visionary. Your children and grandchildren will sing your praises. And to Mike and Patti Frazin for a sanctuary in the snow.
My colleagues, who support, create, and conspire to bring sacredness into this world. And to the office staff, who maintain a steady foundation from which to work. And Lori Klark and Sonny Helmer who copy proofed an early manuscript.
Sustainers: Lisa Fisher, David Gottlieb, Kelly Goldberg. Carol Dovi Odwyer. Chuck Rosenberg. Rachel Rosenberg. Arna Yastrow. Steve Yastrow: enduring friendship. Creative synergy. Partners. The competitive edge. Discerning eye, gentle hand. Love.
Ezra. You are my base camp, as I climb the mysterious mountain of the spirit.
Norman and Lynore Schwartz. The beginning of my life and the love that makes it work.
My children, Talia and Moti, Shiri, Ilan. Divine sparks of grace and blessing.
I was reading to Ilan, my fifteen-year-old son, the section of the book about him.
Is this still about me? he asked.
Well, it started out about you and then went to forgiveness.
Oh, he said. I sort of dozed off at the end It s an adult book, though, right?
It s like that sometimes.
L IKE A S TRAND OF H AIR
I VE WANTED TO WRITE ABOUT FORGIVENESS for years now. I even pitched it to my publisher a long time ago. Write it, he said. I have someone I need to forgive. Don t we all , I thought. But it has remained an idea, an item on a very long list. I had sketchy outlines, and vague charts, and a bit of research, and even a diagram of a bridge, a sort of map leading us down the right path where we could confront others and confront ourselves. But it didn t come alive. It had no flesh; it had no soul. Yet occasionally I would hear a voice: Just how do I forgive?
Then one morning, this book took its first breath. It was kind of like an exhalation. Or maybe it was a sigh. Or perhaps it was more like a whisper, a near thought. All morning, I brushed it out of the way. It was elusive, like a feather floating by, rising and dipping as I tried to reach for it. Then it became persistent and annoying, like a lone strand of hair on the back of my tongue, like one of those thoughts that nag until you can no longer ignore it.
Write. About forgiveness. Write. A subtle echo of new life. Write.
Then the phone rang and it was my daughter Talia, calling me on her nineteenth birthday.
Talia, you re nineteen years old. Do you know what that means?
No, Mom. What does it mean?
It means you are almost twenty! Do you know what that means?
No, Mom. What?
It means that soon you get to begin healing .
What!?
Listen, dear. The first twenty years, you grow up. The second twenty years, you heal from growing up. Now listen carefully
Yes ?
By the time you re forty, get over it. We are human, and many mistakes were made in your growing up. Take the next twenty years to heal, and then move on. By then, you are what you are and you aren t what you are not .
Mommm!!
OK, dear. Happy birthday!
Thanks, Mom .
This book is what occurs to me at the end of my second twenty years
T HE B RIDGE
Forgiveness is a path to be walked. There are steps along the way: loss, anger, acceptance, learning, forgiveness, restoration .
And along the way, you will come upon a bridge. When you step upon it, it will carry you, support you, connect you to another side of life, a side waiting to be discovered .
Forgiveness is a perpetual journey. There are many bridge crossings. Each restores a bit more of what you have lost .
Begin .
T HE S TEPPING -S TONES
F ORGIVENESS IS LIKE A BRIDGE . It carries you over an expanse to the side of life that is softer, kinder, easier to bear. It is a shift of perspective, a new way of seeing our world, a different way of experiencing our inner life. If life is really a journey, then forgiveness is a main avenue, a path to life renewed. And along the way, there are stepping-stones to carry you through: loss, anger, acceptance, forgiveness, learning, and restoration. With each step, a new perspective is gained.
Forgiveness is often understood as an act of unselfish, unconditional love, an act in which we learn to forgive and forget, maybe even to turn the other cheek. That is not what is described in this book. After bearing witness to evil such as the Holocaust, genocide, and other acts of terror, we search for a new paradigm. There should be no forgetting of evil acts, no condoning of offense, sin, hatred. To forget is to run the risk of allowing these evils to happen again. Yet at the same time, to hold within us the horror and pain of every offense diminishes our lives. Resentment, anger, and fear must be released from within us so that we may restore our inner light, regain a sense of life s purpose, and reinvigorate our energy and optimism, so we can live with goodness and love.
I have come to understand that this journey, this path, this way of being in the world has many stages. They are stepping-stones in a journey that is perpetual and unending. Each step restores a bit more of what we have lost. Each step leads to greater wisdom and understanding, to a deeper sense of life s meaning and purpose. We do not forget. Rather, we take what we have experienced and learn to live a different way. We do not turn the other cheek; we take the pain of an assault and understand that to live a loving life we must r