“I have asked you, “who will cast the first stone?” When you are about to point the finger of accusation against one of your brothers or sisters who has acted in an abusive way toward you or another who is dear to you, ask “how can I judge?” How can I know the painful and unloved place from which this act has arisen? How can I know except through the depths of my own pain and separation?” And if you will dwell there, instead of from some false place of moral superiority, you will feel compassion for the ones in pain, for both the abused and the abuser.
Whatever abuse you have experienced in your life must ultimately be forgiven. When it is forgiven, you no longer hold onto the violation. You release the shame. First you forgive yourself. Then you forgive your abuser. Do not try to do it the other way around. You cannot extend forgiveness to another
until you have claimed it for yourself.”
Paul Ferrini, in “The Silence of the Heart”
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Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.