The Book of Forgiveness

Verse 1
Circumstance often, it governs perspective
The actions of one, can harm the collective

Pain once inflicted, in your heart it resides

A childish taunt, scars a lifetime of pride

Verse 2
It's nature is human and not to be judged
All that have come, at least once held a grudge

Control is the battle, our emotions the field

Our anger condones, the hurt that we wield

Verse 3
For so as received, it seems fair to give
The boil of our rage, we choose to let live

A heart torn with pain, is the bed of its seed

As we nurture our anger, no reason we heed

Verse 4
It slowly consumes us, like time it decays

Lost in its shadow, the darkness invades

The size of its girth, it soon becomes vast

Forever it seems, the burden will last

Verse 5
The hurt we perceive, takes a will of its own

Ignoring the seed, we deny it has grown

Noxious by nature, it roots in your mind
It anchors in corners, that no thought can find

Verse 6
Surrounded by drones, who feed their own hate

No compassion for those, beyond their own gate
Divided and scattered, we care not for others

The more that one hides, the less one discovers

Verse 7
What we've become, we were not meant to be

We were given great love and a heart that can see

Now blinded by walls, that we build to defend

The attacks that appear, will come without end

Verse 8
For natural it seems, to build one's defenses

Inside and out, we're surrounded by fences

We think only of ego and protect it we must

But as we lose faith, we soon lose our trust

Verse 9
Without it we sever, the most sacred of ties

We give way to deception and swallow the lies

Consider the burden, you have chosen to bare

When blinded to choice, with no one you share

Verse 10
All of the wrongs, against you once done

If unhealed they remain, alone you become

To let go of the weight, you carry each day

Can be easy to do, yet so hard to say

Verse 11
I sought refuge in places, of sadness and loss

Like you I had chosen, to bare my own cross

The taunts and the hurts, I could not deflect

I absorbed in my heart and lost self-respect

Verse 12
I accepted the fences and became all the names

Twisted and tortured, my soul bore the shame

Try as I might, to stand and stay strong
I conceded my dream and my right to belong

Verse 13
Though around me were many, waiting to care

On my own I decided, my cross I must bare

Their offers of aid, I could not help but mistrust

I surrendered my hope, I became their disgust

Verse 14
In my youth more than most, my heart felt unkown

It was never my choice, to become made of stone
With no tools to defend, no lessons yet taught
In a web of self-hatred, I soon became caught

Verse 15
For sad is the story, of a life with no heart

Alone it had withered and broken apart
I smiled and I laughed, to uphold the illusion

A care free shadow, of a welcomed confusion

Verse 16
The life I had built, was now hollow and broken

With a smile I delivered, the lies I had spoken

I reveled in causing, great dreams to shatter
I delighted in taunting, those pleading to matter

Verse 17
My cares and my woes, were deserved at best

With no hope of redemption, I had failed the test
I was lost in the darkness, of a dream without dreams

Though my soul cried for love, I ignored all its screams

Verse 18
Then one night quite by chance, or so I perceived

Upon a man I had stumbled, who devoutly believed
In a God up in heaven and the deeds of his Son
Of Angels and miracles and sins brought undone

Verse 19
It was a story I told him, once before I had heard

A God ruling with vengeance, to me seemed absurd
And what of the priests, who preached of damnation

Who insisted through them, was my only salvation

Verse 20
It’s a lie I proclaimed, as I questioned his tale

A method of control, that is ancient and stale

I asked him to prove, this benevolent presence
He answered that love, is the form of his essence

Verse 21
If you ask him he challenged, with truth in his eyes

He will show you his love and remove all the lies

But for him to touch it, your heart must be open

Not through your ears, will his message be spoken

Verse 22
For the Lord he does work, in mysterious ways

Great signs he will show, if attention you pay

You must abandon the lie, of mere circumstance

Nothing my friend, is the fruit born of chance

Verse 23
With doubt in his words and no faith in my head

I smiled at the naivety, of all that he'd said

Then later that night, I happened to ponder

But what if it's true, this miraculous wonder

Verse 24
I reflected on life and the hate it had dealt
I looked back on the hurt and the pain I had felt

If there is a God who is love, how could he bare
The great evil we suffer, does he not care

Verse 25
I recalled his tale, of a fate I could choose

A heart that is empty, has nothing to lose

I closed my eyes and I opened my mind
I pondered on answers, I hoped I might find

Verse 26
I spoke aloud of the hurt, that always I carried

I mentioned the hate, to which I was married

Show me I begged, with great desperation
If you prove I will follow, without hesitation

Verse 27
The very next night, I had not long to discover

Three unlikely events, one after the other

They each led to love and the joy I had missed
I recalled all the blessings, my mind had dismissed

Verse 28
You asked him I thought, to show you his love

You were told he would speak, in signs from above
Again I reflected, on my perceptions of real
Were there things in this life, I'd forgotten to feel

Verse 29
I again read the story, of the merciful Christ
In awe of his love and great sacrifice
For he so loved us all, he gave his life for our sin
As he forgave those, who drove the nails in

Verse 30
For legends and whispers, have ever been told

But great wisdom and truth, their stories can hold

As the Spirit of God in the form of a man
His showed us the way, to forgive all we can

Verse 31
I set out on a mission, to love and forgive
I resolved no attention, to hurt I would give
I forgave all who'd hurt me, I looked not for blame

They were each of them trying, to deflect their own pain

Verse 32
Of course it took time, but the more that I tried
The more I felt peace and a freedom inside
I had changed my perspective and let go of my pride

I stepped out from the shadow and chose not to hide

Verse 33
My faith it grew daily and my love grew by night
My soul it was healing, in the warmth of his light
For not by my works, could my soul be saved
But by walking in Grace on the road that he paved
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