Day 50 Letting Go Part 4 Letting Go of Injustices

One of the hardest things to let go of are the injustices done to us or our family. Injustices are when something of great worth is stolen from us, and we have no way to get them back. It could be a child killed by a drunk driver. It could be our liberty, stolen because we are black and deemed only good enough to be a slave. It could be rape or incest. It could be a broken back because we dared to walk on a platform that should have held our weight but was poorly and negligently put together. Terrible injustices exist everywhere in the world and cause the greatest of pains. Injustices eat away at us, like an ant gnawing their way through our heart. How can we let go of such injustices as these? Because to not let go of them, will eventually kill us. It’s like drinking a cup of poison every day hoping and waiting for the perpetrator of the injustice to die. The only one it is killing is you inside. At first there is shock and denial. That then turns to anger and blame. That often leads into dark places like depression and suicidal thoughts. Then there must be a choice to either remain in these places or to try and climb out of this pit of hopelessness, anger, resentment, hatred and unforgiveness. Deep down we want justice and believe that if we move on to accept what has been done to us, this is in some form a betrayal of ourselves. We believe that If we accept and move on, then they are getting away with the wrong done against us. Yet often we cannot get back what was most precious to us; our lost child, our health, our freedom. They have been lost for all time. What we can do is to make something of great worth from that which we lost. We can choose to stay in the land of the dead and be eaten away by resentment, anger and the injustice or we have to decide to leave it. Too many try and keep one foot in one camp and one foot in the other. However all the time they do that, they’re keeping those hurts and wounds and pain alive. There is a wonderful prayer, the serenity prayer, which says, “Lord, help me to accept the things I cannot change, give me the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference”. Wisdom can come near you in these moments of greatest pain and she alone can assure you that one day that terrible wrong done to you will produce something of worth. She cares deeply that you don’t go further and further down the road nearer and nearer to death but wants to help you find life once again. With every injustice done to us, we have a choice to daily die a little or to try and find life and purpose and hope and meaning once again. It feels so much more comforting to hold onto our anger than be brave enough to forgive. Ultimately, it will only be the forgiveness of the other which will free us from the hell of hatred. “But how can we forgive those who have inflicted such pain on us? Why do they deserve my forgiveness when they should be begging me to forgive them?” However, if you wait for them to come to you and ask for your forgiveness this time might never arrive and your life will be forever put on hold and then they will continue to hold the strings of your life. No, in order to be totally free of them, you must cut the ties holding and connecting you and they can only be broken by cutting them with the scissors of forgiveness. Ultimately, you don’t want them to get away with it, but if you die a little every day, not only are they getting away scot free, they are now also stealing your life and future and potential from you. You have to trust that somehow and in some way and some day we will all need to face and make amends for the injustices we caused others. However that might be in the next life and not in this one. All we can do here is to build something of great worth from the broken pieces that the injustice brought us. That’s the best way to defeat them, by not being broken by them.

What injustices do you find hardest to let go of and/ or forgive? Why?

What anger, resentment or bitterness are you holding onto? How is holding onto them helping you?

Who do I need to forgive, in order to free myself?

What is something of worth that I can build from the injustices I’ve suffered?

End by saying The Serenity Prayer.